Carnival 2022 appears to be coming along just fine as those events which have already been held, and which are all part and parcel of the year’s biggest extravaganza, have had little controversy and no violence to talk about.
As the two days of breakaway revellery approach, meaning Carnival Monday and Tuesday, we beseech all revellers to keep the good vibes going by abstaining from violent conduct. Let us make Carnival 22 a violence free one. Over the past years, violent crimes have afflicted many of us. It has caused us to shed too many tears, broken up too many families, impacted too many events, including carnival. This time around let us prove that violent crime can be left outside of carnival. Let us show each other that violent crimes have no place in carnival this year.
And at the rate we are going this can be done. From the calypso tents, the Groovy and Power Soca Monarch competitions, Calypso Monarch competition, Panorama, King and Queen of the Bands and other lesser known shows and fetes, all connected in some way to Carnival 2022, violence has been below our fearful expectation and that is how we want it to remain for the upcoming street revellery.
Therefore we plead to the rude boyz and the rude gals, the bad boyz and the bad gals, the gangs and the gangsters, the no nonsense man and the no nonsense woman, and all revelers, meaning those in a band and those not in a band, to exercise restraint and try, at least this time, to walk away from any semblance of a disagreement.
We have another plea, especially for those participating in Carnival 2022, in whatever capacity, to remember, at all times that the coronavirus and all its variants are still alive and still deadly, if you are unvaccinated.
Saint Lucia still records an unacceptably high number of cases of the disease on a daily basis. Let this, therefore serve as a reminder to do what’s necessary to keep oneself and loved ones safe.
Also, we are calling for a toning down of the yearly dose of over-the-top display of ‘dry sex’ that takes place on our streets during the Monday and Tuesday parades of the bands.
Yes, we know that everyone wants to have a good time, and burst out of the chains of COVID-19 and the economic situation they face and enjoy themselves, but does having a good time mean gyrating in a lewd and vulgar manner on each other?
We are aware that such acts during carnival have now become acceptable norms in society, to the point that when our children engage in such acts we no longer complain. , What ever happened to the restrained behaviour we used to see in past kiddies carnival events?
All we are saying here is for the adults taking part in the Monday and Tuesday street parade to forego their erotic steam this time around, as this does not go with the territory, as have been suggested in the past. Exhibiting the creativity and colours of costumes and the story behind such displays is far more entertaining.
Let more positives emanate from Carnival 2022 than negatives. We can learn a lot from the French contingent in our street parades of past years, or have we forgotten about them?