The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) on Thursday released the schedule of activities for the Carnival 2012 season, slated to run from April 19 until May 2, 2012. As is customary there will also be some pre-Carnival events (outside of Carnival Village) before the official opening of Carnival. In total, there will be 18 days of Carnival events in 2012.
President of the SCDF Stuart Johnson said the foundation members went over the schedule weighing pros and cons of certain events as they relate to certain dates. He explained that the SCDF views the schedule as balanced between local and international events.
Moreover, he added, there are a number of cultural aspects that will be incorporated into several of the local shows to re-enforce the fact that Carnival is first and foremost about culture. “The dates reflect what the main events of those days/nights will be. As we move along we will be announcing what many of those events on the schedule will feature. We think the populations will be happy with the final product,” Johnson said.
The 2012 Carnival schedule features 10 local events and 4 international concerts, as well as 4 jump-ups and three parades. Four of the ten local events are pageants, with the Teen and Mature Queen Pageants being re-introduced by popular demand. Johnson said a separate news release about these two pageants will be issued next week.
The music genres selected for the international nights, as requested by the promoters, are Soca, Latin, Reggae, Dancehall, Hip Hop & R&B. The SCDF has also identified the promoters with whom the foundation will be working with for Carnival 2012.
“Our efforts to start early started with contacting promoters a few months ago. That was followed by the opening of registration for all aspects of Carnival. We now have our schedule which will allow Carnival stakeholders locally, regionally and internationally to plan and prepare,” Johnson said.
“Behind the scenes we are meeting with stakeholders, discussing regional promotion initiatives, basically warming up the engine for Carnival 2012. Our Carnival remains a the people’s festival and we will continue to keep the people informed as we go along and look forward to their support as customary,” Johnson added.
The Carnival 2012 Schedule is as follows:
Sat, March 31 – Fete to Fitness Around Town Jump Up
Sun, April 1 – Junior Queen Pageant, Junior Calypso & Road March Show
Sat, April 14 – Teen & Senior Speech & Culture Wear Competition
Thur, April 19 – Opening Carnival Village/Opening Jump Up
Fri, April 20 – Senior Calypso Eliminations & Road March Competition
Sat, April 21 – International Concert (Soca)
Sun, April 22 – Junior Carnival Parade
Mon, April 23 – Ms. Mature Queen Pageant & Cultural Manifestation
Tues, April 24 – International Concert (Hip Hop / Dance Hall)
Wed, April 25 – Senior & Teen Carnival Queen Pageants
Thur, April 26 – Youth Extravaganza
Fri, April 27 – Senior Calypso Finals
Sat, April 28 – Jouvert Morning 4am
Sat, April 28 – International Concert (Latin) (8pm)
Sun, April 29 – International Concert (R&B / Reggae)
Monday, April 30 – Grand Carnival Parade
Tues, May 1 – Second Day Parade
Wed, May 2 – Closing Jump Up/Burning King Momo