St Lucia Carnival is one of the most hyped and exciting festivals in St Lucia. It is when majority of St Lucians get the opportunity to clamor through the streets of Castries and party until they drop.
It usually begins in the middle of the month of June with the Calypso Season and ends in the middle of the month of July where it ends with a grand parade through the city of Castries.
There are many events that lead up to St Lucia Carnival. St Lucians as well as tourists enjoy these festivities where different carnival bands get to dress up in various outfits.
In the weeks before the
St Lucia Carnival
takes off, there is what we call the Calypso Season, which I mentioned earlier. This is when the local calypsonians come together to compete for the title of calypso king or queen.
There is also the parade of beautiful young women vying for the title of Miss Carnival Queen. If you ever get the chance to go to the pageant then I would highly recommend it.
This is a tradition that I can remember from the time that I was child, and from what I was told by my parents, it has always been that way.
There is also the Soca Monarch competition where local soca stars such as Mantius, Ninja Dan, Cupid, Alpha and many others compete to find out which will win the title of Soca Monarch, Road March king or queen, and Groovy Soca Monarch. The person who wins the road march position gets to sing live with the bands parade the streets. It is really a remarkable sight.
The parades of different colors and fabrics are a spectacular sight to see. The people are clothed in their carnival costumes whiles they start what we call the parade of the bands from the Northwest Building located on the John Compton Highway to the Marchand Field located in the Marchand community.
This might seem silly but it is really something that majority of our country looks forward to. It is really a festival that many tourist come to this country to enjoy and be a part of it. I have actually seen many of them jumping on the streets or simply dancing to the soca beat.
If you want to come to St Lucia at a time when there are shows galore and lots of excitement, you can believe me; the place to be is at St Lucia Carnival.
