An exciting programme of entertainment is being finalized for the grand opening of the 49th edition of St. Kitts & Nevis’ Sugar Mas carnival, scheduled for this Friday, 11th December 2020.
Chairwoman of Carnival, Shannon Hawley, while revealing the features that will form part of the opening ceremony, stated that some of the country’s top artistes and groups will be highlighted.
Unlike previous years, when thousands gathered in the city center of Basseterre for the public opening of the carnival, this year, unfortunately, the ceremony will be totally virtual.
She said that, now that the highly successful Virtual Series of Calypso Tents has come to an end, with the final appearance on Saturday, 5th December, they are now turning their attention to the formal opening of the celebrations.
Once again, because of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, the Carnival Committee will be using creative and innovative means to produce another virtual spectacle that they promise will wow online audiences.
It will be shown live on ZIZ Television, broadcast on radio stations and streamed on various social media platforms, reaching patrons overseas, in addition to the many ‘tuning in’ throughout St. Kitts & Nevis.
Among the stellar group of artistes to appear are, lead singer of the famous Nu Vybes (Sugar) Band- Mr. Mention, reggae and dance hall sensations- Dejour, Infamus and Collin Wyatt.
They will perform a medley of well-known patriotic ‘Sweet St. Kitts’ songs, like ‘People’s Sugar’, ‘SKN Pride’, ‘Love St. Kitts’ and ‘SK Sweet’.
The official start of carnival will also feature the Kollision Band, which is one of the country’s leading jam bands, delivering what is billed to be a ‘peppered’ catalogue of street style calypso music that will likely evoke memories of J’ouvert Morning and Last Lap jam sessions.
Minister of Culture and Carnival, Jonel Powell and Carnival Chairwoman, Shannon Hawley, are also scheduled to make brief remarks to signal the start of the annual celebrations, which has had to be significantly downsized, as St. Kitts & Nevis continues to display a matured posture in how it manages the deadly Coronavirus.
So far, the country has had only 25 confirmed cases, with only 3 being active, and there has been no deaths since the outbreak of the virus in March this year.
As a consequence, the Carnival Committee ‘redefined’ its approach to how it organized the festival, electing to forego some of the traditional events, and instead limiting its activities to a more cultured package, delivered by virtual means.
All major winners for last year’s carnival, such as the reigning Senior Calypso Monarch- King Socrates; 2019 National Carnival Queen- Hardai Baley; National Swimsuit Queen- Avis Glasgow; Mr. GQ- St. Clair Rawlins; and the Miss Talented Teen-Shanika Johnson, of the Washington Archibald High School, will be adding their talent to this Friday’s event.
The Grand Carnival Opening will also highlight folklore presentations from the masquerades and others.
The live broadcast of the opening ceremony will begin at 7:30p.m.