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Orion’s Belt Miami Carnival 2011

Orion’s Belt Miami Carnival 2011

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Download Maashup For More Carnival Costumes, News, Fetes and Photos.Upon visiting their website one of the few remaining sections is ‘Paradisu’ from Sonia Mack. With their arsenal of sponsors Island People is ready for mas in 2009. Visit their website for more information at www.islandpeoplemas.com

I watch a motley crowd pouring out from all corners and filled the street with bubbling spirits of merriment. Flags of the Caribbean countries rippled across the street as a field of exotic flowers blown by a gust of wind. Hope is weaved into bright and showy raiment and dreams are shaped into melody. To fuel the soul drink Carib, Guinness or Heineken beers, and feast on jerk chicken, boil corn, roast corn, and hot spicy corn, hot pepper shrimps and hot crab legs.

After sunrise the J’ouvert finishes, most people will go home to shower and then change into their better clothes or costumes to take part in the main parade hours later.

Faint or frisky, sober or stone the crowd glows.

-Written by Zerina Phillip

-Photography by Zerina Phillip

Visit Her at www.myspace.com/yahshay

Read More From Zerina Phillip

1. Brooklyn is the borough……

How many of you know that New York’s Carnival wasn’t always on the Parkway. Initially our festivities took place in Harlem. Over the time the streets became too small many West Indian’s migrated to Brooklyn, hence the Carnival was moved to Eastern Parkway. With that said I’ve come up with my first reason why the Parkway is better than Trinidad the diversity in people. No other (Carnival) place on earth can accommodate a diversity of people in love peace and unity. I’m not talking about just skin, color, creed or class; I’m talking about a variety of Caribbean and non-Caribbean Nations on one street parading their pride. Where can you see Haitian trucks, Panamanian, Kittitian, Vincentian, Jamaican, Dominican and all of the Caribbean displaying their patriotism showing each and everyone they too know how to party and get on bad? Trinidad maybe the mother of Carnival, but New York is the Father of a Diverse Carnival. Together mother and father have given birth to Carnival pride in each and every one of us.

2. Pizza, and Jerk Chicken anyone. . . . . .

Where else can I get pizza, jerk chicken, and curry chicken, and falafel all on the same strip? Yes, you guessed it NEW YORK CITY!!!! Not only are we diverse with our trucks we are also diverse with our food. New York City is the Mecca of cultural diffusion. I bet you can’t get that in Trinidad– a Bagel with Salt fish –someone tell me where else you can get that.

3. Did you see me on television………

International coverage of the most attended festival in New York City. I love New York for the various media coverage that can be seen by so many satellites around the world. Trinidad only has coverage throughout the Caribbean and if I’m lucky I might see myself on BET.

4. Security Please…..

No other place has the safest, tightest security only NYPD. NYPD is so secure that if you miss your band on Rutland road please know that you have to walk through the crowds on Utica and Eastern Parkway and ask someone to allow you to jump over a barricade, it doesn’t get safer than that.

5. Metro card……

Now if you are too tired to walk all the way home why not swipe a ride on the NYC MTA faster and safer than a Maxi Taxi and takes you where you need to go. MTA takes you almost everywhere with hardly a hassle of waiting on a packed van to take you to your destination. Air Conditioned carts, seats to sit, space to stand, and you can breath without feeling like your suffocating. Think back in Trinidad being jam up in a maxi and you wishing there was AC, and if the AC is on its so pack you can barely feel it.

6. Cool Temps…..

Nothing beats playing mas with sweet sun and nice cool temperatures. I can honestly say when I’m done playing mas in New York I don’t feel that sweaty sticky nasty feeling. I know in Trinidad when you play mas you’re so hot, thirsty, and down right tired just from the sun beating on your precious skin. Labor Day the only way you sweating is from jumping around.

7. Cheaper, Buy the dozen….

Ok! So New York doesn’t have all inclusive sections like Trinidad (goodie bag, security, port-a-potty etc) but we have mas that in some cases look better than Trinidad for far more cheaper a price. Some cases New York mas makes you feel happy you spent no more than $250 so you can buy your metro card to go to work, and pay your rent (remember Labor Day is the first day of the month).

Carnival is bacchanal and I hope I made enough bacchanal with this article. Yes we always hear the same line “oh nothing beats Trinidad mas”, or “I’m not going on the Parkway- Parkway not what it use to be”. For all those who believe the Parkway is so bad why do we keep coming out by the millions, (the number of attendees never decrease they always increase)? We know nothing can compare to mas at home but for those of us who can’t make it home Labor Day is as good as it gets.

-Written By Chandy

- Photography by Sean James

More Carnival photos:

Empresses of Ethiopia-Borokeete

-Photography by Delon Chateau

Play Mas With Borokeete

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