Ot­to Car­ring­ton

Se­nior Re­porter

ot­to.car­ring­ton@cnc3.co.tt

J’Ou­vert bands are cel­e­brat­ing a sig­nif­i­cant in­crease in par­tic­i­pants this year with some bands wel­com­ing be­tween 800 and 1,500 mas­quer­aders on­to the streets. Cos­tume prices range from $500 to $2,000.

Stephon Jack, leader of Naughty or Nice J’Ou­vert Band, and his team say they are ready to de­liv­er an un­for­get­table Car­ni­val ex­pe­ri­ence.

Af­ter wit­ness­ing steady growth since their first year, the band has stepped up prepa­ra­tions to ac­com­mo­date even more rev­ellers this year.

“Based on last year and our first year, we are do­ing much bet­ter than both years,” Jack said

The band is based on Ari­api­ta Av­enue, Wood­brook.

Like many oth­er J’Ou­vert bands, last-minute reg­is­tra­tions re­main a ma­jor fac­tor in plan­ning.

“J’Ou­vert is a last-minute thing. For all who know—and for most bands—J’Ou­vert is some­thing very last-minute,” he ex­plained.

He said the team ad­just­ed its strat­e­gy af­ter sell­ing out last year.

Jack ex­plained, “Last year, we catered for 800 and we sold out. If we had 200 ex­tras, we would have sold those too. So this year, we catered for more. We pre­pared for the rush.”

Be­yond the num­bers, Jack em­pha­sised the vi­brant en­er­gy and strong sense of com­mu­ni­ty that set his band apart.

“No band is per­fect—each band has its mis­takes. But the love we show to our pa­trons ... not just on J’Ou­vert morn­ing but from the start, keeps peo­ple com­ing back.”

For Vi­da Quow, a US cit­i­zen, this year’s Car­ni­val in Trinidad and To­ba­go is a long-await­ed home­com­ing—with a spe­cial twist.

Al­though he has vis­it­ed the coun­try many times since leav­ing as a child, this is the first time he has re­turned to ex­pe­ri­ence the na­tion’s biggest fes­ti­val.

Quow is al­ready con­vinced that noth­ing com­pares to the en­er­gy of T&T’s Car­ni­val.

“Best, best thing I ever ex­pe­ri­enced,” he de­clared. With two days of fes­tiv­i­ties ahead, his plans are sim­ple but full of ex­cite­ment.

“Two days—we’re out­side. We’re out­side. I need to en­joy my­self,” he said.

He is most ex­cit­ed to take part in J’Ou­vert cel­e­bra­tions, with Naughty or Nice as his band of choice.

Mud­ders In­ter­na­tion­al, co-led by Melis­sa Dick-Knights and Matthew Sorzano, is al­so gear­ing up for its biggest week­end yet.

Af­ter months of metic­u­lous plan­ning, the band is in full swing as last-minute rev­ellers rush to reg­is­ter.

“J’Ou­vert is a thing that peo­ple tend to reg­is­ter for lat­er, so Car­ni­val week­end is re­al­ly our biggest pump,” said Dick-Knights.

“The fi­nale is when the peo­ple come in, and that is usu­al­ly the last week of Car­ni­val,” she ex­plained.

“It’s a nice vibe. It’s a fam­i­ly vibe,” Dick-Knights added.