Greetings everyone! We hope your saturday was as fun and eventful as ours! Last night we were able to attend the press conference for the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival presented by the ACCBA (Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Bandleaders Association) and it was absolutely amazing!
Imagine going to a press conference ……. and it was a party? That is what we were able to enjoy last night. The press conference was hosted at the Downtown Sheraton Hotel on Courtland Street in downtown Atlanta. Although the day of the parade and massive celebration (May 26th) is a month and 3 weeks away you could feel the joy, excitement, and pride in the room as they announced the timeline from now until Memorial Day weekend.
The press ranged in presence from radio stations, to cable news stations (CNN RADIO) to local news (WSBTV) and of course, we were there:) We were greeted by jovial board members of the ACCBA and band members as well.
We heard a few words from Jamaica’s Honorary Consul to Atlanta Vin Martin and found out that Jamaica will be celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence this year! So along with all of the events associated with the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival, there will be specific Jamaican themed events as well! We should also note Trinidad & Tobago are celebrating their independence this year as well!
Did we mention we were fed too? The food provided was EXCELLENT! meat & cheese (salami, turkey, ham), seafood, chicken, and beef patties, fruit punch (made with fresh fruit), jerked chicken, etc. In our opinion, ALL professional events should be held like this! 😀
We also were informed of the artists to grace the stage this year at the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival! The list is as follows:
Kerwin Dubois
Claudette Peters
Skinny Fabulous
Kenne Blessin
Tallpree
Revolution Band
Burning Flames
Djakout Mizik
Crossovah ft. Ricardo Dru
Rebels Band
Showtime Band
Exodus Band
Small Axe Band
418 Band
Jadine
Pumpa
Iwer George
Edwin Yearwood
Tanto Metro & Devonte
We also have a list of all the Masquerade Bands that will be in attendance:
Bimshire Band
Calabash Alley
Classi Waves
Dadli Mas Troupe
Dynamic Image Carnival Troupe
Dysfunctional Kaos Masquerade
For the Love of Haiti
Impulse Mas
Inferno
Island Fuzzion Carnival Troupe
Madd Colors
MaddFlava Entertainment
Paradise Carnival Troupe
PRIZM International
Taste of Elegance
Thunderbirds USA
TruDynasty
Untied for Haiti
United Ramplers
We Kinda Ting Inc.
As you can see by the myriad of entertainment, this year’s lineup is sure to impress. The parade is the biggest part of the festival, and once all of the necessary information about the bands and sponsors were announced we were able to see a preview of what to expect at the parade. Models from different countries around the caribbean graced the walkway last night displaying some of the costumes to look forward to for Carnival.
While models danced down the runway, an explanation of their costumes were presented by local voiceover artist Tania Sky. The cool thing about the costume themes are that they all have a separate story to them. A story of what the colors and designs represent and what they mean to the people. So people should know it’s not just a big party, but a party that displays deep culture and history (that just happens to come with beautiful people and delicious food:) ). But can you really argue with that? We’d have to say NO!:)
We look forward to bringing you FULL coverage of the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival and all of it’s exciting events and it’s full feature in the 1st issue of The Peach Review™. Feel free to checkout the promotional video here
Enjoy your weekend and we hope to see you Saturday May 26th at 12pm for the 2012 Atlanta Caribbean Carnival!
-TPR