The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) released its official Carnival 2012 schedule on Thursday, outlining two weeks of mostly local events and concerts from the opening of Carnival Village on April 19 to the Burning of King Momo on May 2. Carnival lovers will also get four local events prior to the opening of the Village.
The official schedule has once again been sponsored by Scotia Bank, who has been a partner of the SCDF in the production of the calendar of events for well over a decade.
The calendar, adorned with the reigning Junior and Senior Queens as well as revelers, also features three international nights towards the tail-end of the schedule, including the popular Latin Night by promoter Francois "Cuchi" Hunt and the One Love Soca Explosion by promoter Jacqueline Louis.
The SCDF noted that it could not mention everything in detail on its calendar of events, so the general public can expect some additional announcements via the media regarding artists appearing on various nights. For the most part, the schedule for Carnival 2012 predominantly features local shows including the "re-igniting" of three: the Teen Carnival Queen Pageant, the Miss Mature Carnival Queen Pageant and the Soca Monarch competition which replaces the Road March competition.
The SCDF explained that the Soca Monarch competition will only be for individual calypsonians, while a new competition, called a "Road Jam" competition, will be exclusively for the bands and will be judged on the road based on criteria. More information about this will be released at a later date.
The SCDF will also be hosting what it termed a "long overdue and very special event" on the same night of the Calypso Eliminations. The event, entitled "Honoring Local Carnival Legends" will pay homage to 6 persons directly affiliated with calypso who are "in every sense legends in their own right," the SCDF said. The names of these persons will be released in the next few weeks.
In total, the 2012 schedule futures 8 local shows, 3 international concerts, 4 jump-ups and 3 parades. "We are very happy with the balance that we’ve been able to present to the people of St. Maarten, the region and the world for Carnival 2012," President of the SCDF Stuart Johnson said. "We have something for everyone while still maintaining our hold on all things local, which is of utmost importance to the SCDF. Carnival is many things, but is driven by the local stakeholders who continue to work to elevate our festival. As such, we hope to get overwhelming support from the public for our local events on the same level we do for our international events," Johnson added.
He went on to thank Scotia Bank and Director of the Bank Elie Bendaly for once again being a dependable partner for Carnival on St. Maarten. "Mr. Bendaly and Scotia has remained steadfast in their support and for that we are extremely grateful," Johnson said.
The 2012 calendar also has links to the SCDF’s Facebook page as well as www.wheretheflex.com the other online portal that the SCDF will be utilizing in partnership for Carnival 2012.
