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 With
26 days left in the summer vacation, the school year is right around
the corner. All the picnics, beach outings, barbecues, and bus rides
will soon be over. The blistering heat waves will turn into the bone-chilling
cold fall and winter months. The greatest loss that everyone will miss
about the end of the summer is the jump’n parties. However, before
the summer is over there will be one big party on Labor Day to bring
it to a close. This is the West Indian-American Carnival, which takes
place in Brooklyn New York on Eastern Parkway. This is when thousands
of costumed masqueraders, organized into teams called mas bands (pronounced
mass from masquerade), gather at the corner of Eastern Parkway and Utica
Avenue in Crown Heights and march down the parkway till they get to
Grand Army Plaza in Flatbush.
“Carnival comes from two Latin words. The two Latin words mean
good-bye to the flesh. So, it is a time when you let go. We forget for
a day all the problems of the city, and we just let go as we say, loosen
yourself, have fun.” This carnival serves as a social pressure
release valve; a kind of anything goes period,” said Jim Metzner
from Pulse of
the Planet.
Many of the city’s roughly one million citizens of Caribbean descent,
along with thousand of neighbors, day-trippers and tourists, come out
to observe the wonderful parade. The Carnival consists of music from
all the different Caribbean countries, beautiful decorative floats,
millions of flags in the air, and most importantly all the masqueraders
dancing to the jubilant sounds of steel drums and the steady throb of
calypso, soca, and reggae music. Wearing dazzling, multicolored outfits,
ornate headpieces and glittering makeup, the mas slowly make their way
along the parkway. In recent years, there have been celebrity singers,
such as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Wycleff, Foxy Brown and more, who
get the crowds jumping as they perform their most popular songs on the
moving floats. While
the thousands of participants dance on the parkway, the sidewalks are
packed with vendors selling Caribbean crafts, clothing, and souvenirs.
They also sell mouthwatering food, such as roti, curry chicken, oxtail,
beef patties, and more. The costumes, music and food all represent facets
of the various, Caribbean nations and cultures.
Other events, besides the parade go on during the Labor Day weekend.
There are several concerts, costume contest, and the Kiddie Carnival
that take place on Saturday of that weekend. Finally late Sunday night
at around 2 a.m., the lively procession known as J’ouvert starts
off Monday’s revelry.
New York’s Carnival festivities date back to the first wave of
Caribbean immigration, in the early 20th century. Small calypso revues
and masquerade balls appeared in Harlem in the 1920’s; the events
became so popular, they were moved to larger outdoor venues. But because
of the cold winter temperatures, the celebrations were rescheduled to
Labor Day in 1947. This switch in time signified the shift from its
religious to cultural priority. In 1967, a Trinidadian masquerade designer
named Rufus Goring (“mas man”) brought the event to Grand
Army Plaza in Brooklyn, home to rapidly growing Caribbean community.
“There was talk of moving the parade to Manhattan’s Fifth
Avenue when Carnival left Harlem,” recalls Trinidad-born Horace
Morancie, a consultant to the United States Steelband Association (USSA).
“But we wanted it to be a celebration for and in the Caribbean
community, so we went to Eastern Parkway. ”The following year,
however, unruly crowds looted nearby shops, and the police refused to
renew Goring’s permit. In 1969, Carlos Lezama, the president of
the West Indian-American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA), the parade’s
organizing committee, took up the reins and helped set Carnival on track,
securing permits and working through the calypsonians and the community,
the Labor Day Carnival has evolved into a massive, multicultural event
that it is today.
I have been able to experience the parade for about four years now and
I have enjoyed every bit of it. You never feel left out at the parade
because there are always vendors selling inexpensive outfits and accessories
to make you feel like natives of the various West Indian countries.
There are millions of people with flags, hats, bandanas, shirts, and
more to represent their country. Carnival to me seems like a big cultural
pride parade, where everyone is happy to celebrate the country they
are from. So if you don’t have anything planned this Labor Day,
come out to Brooklyn’s annual West Indian American Day Parade to
enjoy the cultural festivities full of people, music, and food to have
a wonderful and exciting time.
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