00:00Carnival season in St. Vincent and the Granarines is underway and in this context our special
00:04employee in the Caribbean island Belen de los Santos is there to offer more details on this.
00:10Hi Belen.
00:14Hello Ale precisely we continue here in St. Vincent and the Granarines. It's one more day of
00:20Vincimas Saturday of the final weekend so everybody is ready. What you see behind me
00:25is just one of the parties that are being set up for the coming hours. This is a very important
00:33day. There's a lot of sideline events regarding this weekend carnival and we'll be touring some
00:41of them so we'll be bringing you some of these festivities and celebrations that really highlight
00:47the identity of these people and the Caribbean region in general. The highlight of the night in
00:53the coming hours will be the Soka Monarch that is the competition in the search of the best of the
01:00best in the performance of this rhythm that is the Soka that comes from the Calypso. We've been
01:05talking about the importance of this to the Vincentian people and also to the Caribbean people
01:10in general and also a little bit of what we've been seeing in the last days the relevance the
01:18importance of the carnival as a way of uniting the identity of the Caribbean people. You'll see
01:25more in the following report right after I end up talking to you right now. We've been preparing this
01:31material so Ale for now I go back to you but before let's see the following material. Carnival has always been key to
01:40Caribbean and Latin American culture. It speaks of the regional ties and the sheer history that brings these
01:47people together in a celebration that every year comes back to highlight that local spirit. The
01:54carnival became most matured in Trinidad and Tobago in the mid 19th century because you have a number of
02:01migratory movements to Trinidad. People from Saint Vincent and the Grandines, from Grenada, from the
02:07French speaking territories and of course because Trinidad is so close to Venezuela we have the Calypso
02:15moving across from Venezuela into Trinidad and Tobago and there it makes its way back to the other territories.
02:25Carnival is a time of free up and like back in the it was the like the end where slavery where the
02:31slaves celebrate is what their time of celebration so we still celebrate it so anyone who have
02:36experienced it. It's a time when you forget your worries for like the well we have 10 days accountable
02:43so we say forget your worries for the 10 days. In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines many of the local
02:48bands and its artists work hard to keep up the Vincentian tradition of artisan costume making that
02:55sets Vince MS apart. The locals look to tell a story in the streets through their work that speaks to their
03:01history and identity. What you see in Brazil you see in Miami you see in Trinidad you see in Carabana
03:08you see in in in New York you see and that's not what we want that's not what we are all about
03:13what we are about is as I said to tell a storyline not see one see all if you think of the
03:19Brazil mass and and you think about the the Trinidad and everything like that you just see
03:25feathers different colors feathers shape in different way what we try to do as we say Deepika's storyline
03:31and this is something we try to maintain. I mean every year every year I say this is my last year
03:38but the love for the arts your love for the music the love for creating things with your hands and then
03:46seeing it on the road carnival Tuesday it just gives you this nostalgic feeling that keeps you coming back
03:53back and my first memory of carnival is actually playing the steel pan with my village band and
04:02the signing euphonium steel orchestra so but the love for this art form keeps me coming back.
04:12Those family ties that make up the local mass bands and their artisan work together with the love
04:17for the music and energetic performances are what make Vince's carnival a must in the region.
04:25Calypso and soca and steel band and mass is like it's unique. There's a generalized carnival throughout
04:34the whole of Latin America and the Caribbean but we have our unique flavor and I hope you get to take in
04:41some of it. With the final costumes ready to go and the high energy music already playing in the streets
04:48Vince MS enters its final days of carnival as Kingstown becomes the hottest place in the Caribbean.
04:56Belen de los Santos from Kingstown Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for Telesur.
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