The Energy of Spicemas 2024: Highlights and Insights

Once upon a Spicemas, the air was filled with bliss. Grenadians and visitors frolicked around, worries gone to the abyss.

-Sound the horn and shell-

Spicemas 2024 is over and the undeniable verdict is in: ‘We does play a bad jab, yea we does play a mad jab!’

It was phenomenal! The energy was electric and even through the rain, mas was played!

But let me be honest, coming out of Spicemas 2023, I was ready to gatekeep Spicemas. (Honestly that’s my protective nature that was showing up there and when it comes to Grenada I’m very protective – this is Home! Home sweet home!). Spicemas is niche, as every carnival should be, and yet some visitors come with the expectation that it should be the August version of another country’s carnival.

There was no doubt that after the traction of 2023, 2024 was going to be a huge attraction, and that it was! It did feel however, like we didn’t have all the necessary infrastructure in place to undertake that rate of growth that we were experiencing and we didn’t yet have a good handle of all of the risks involved. Thankfully in spite the hiccups, so many things went well, and we have survived the 2024 season. Energy doesn’t lie and there was so many amazing moments to highlight.

Before we dive deep into this, let me insert a bit of why I felt compelled to speak on the topic. Besides being a born and bred, pure, spicy jab girl, wanting to give a review that comes from the Grenadian point of view, I have paid some of my dues to Spicemas already. Back in the summers of 2010, 2011 and 2012, I “worked” with the then Grenada Carnival Committee now known as Spicemas Corporation in their office as a temp and also at nights in the competitions as an attache or backstage support runner etc. I have always had a love for the product that is Spicemas – One of the ultimate illustrations of Grenadian culture. I say all that to say, I’ve seen a bit of both sides of carnival and from a place of pure love want to spotlight our culture and give my own review.

Spicemas – Grenada’s carnival: best known for the JabJab – 100,000 strong, the Jab soca and Grenadian Power soca, Grenada’s unparalleled Soca Monarch, the best Jouvert mornings, Monday Night Mas and more recently being known for Pretty Mas which has been creating much buzz in recent years as a Spicemas major attraction. In Grenada, the fete culture is ‘day cruises’, ‘night cruises’ and ‘shows’, and these are the fete elements to expect pure Grenadian energy. Lastly Spicemas is known for the energy – it should really be coined the energy capital. When mas is being played here it is taken very seriously!

At the start of almost every year, there is a recurring theme among locals – ‘idk nuh, ah doh feeling de carnival at all’. My remedy to this is tuning into the radio stations to learn the songs from around mid-June. The artistes year in and out give us the vibes. The music tells our stories, reminds us of our history and unites and divides us for the season lol. Next is to get outside – carnival most times is not happening in your house, so get among the people, feel the energy outside as a collective and embrace this culture and build it. As such let’s get into the review of some of these elements of the 2024 season, with a sprinkle of some of my recommendations (fyi- this might be long).

THE MUSIC

Let’s start with the music. I’m giving all my Grenadian artists their flowers and I hope that they continue to grow. The music was great as usual, the riddims, the catchphrases, the themes, the lyrics, the development of plots. The music is the underlying frequency of the season and allows us to attach to it, our favourite memories made from the carnival.

If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together. – African proverb

May the industry continue to grow and have more collaborations among artistes and producers. There’s more power as a united collective than individually in the wider world.

Now while we already know and acknowledge the “big names” in the industry , I want to shoutout to the consistent participants of the Power, Groovy and Calypso competitions. Shoutout to the organizers of private competitions as well that give a platform to budding talent, including the next generation. This year as well, I was very proud to see the artists making music videos and creating their own YouTube pages to get their royalties that they have been missing out on.

Respect and manners to:

THE EVENTS

Like I said earlier, you needed to get outside to feel the energy. Bring the right energy and be among people who have come to share the same experience. If you’re going to make the effort to leave your home, spend some coins and exert more energy to stand among strangers, I strongly suggest bringing your best vibes. The collective vibes is part of what makes the event, and not just the vibes of some being leeched by others. ‘Fetes’, as known to the wider Caribbean and diaspora, are also fairly new to Grenada in comparison to the other islands. Some of my favourite events (starting from about April) that I hope continue to grow and are included on everyone’s Spicemas calendar of events in upcoming years are as follows:-

This list does not exclude any event out of shade, these ones are being highlighted as the top vibes ones that as I said I hope continue to grow. Also these are by local promoters and in my opinion offer the true Grenadian vibes. Lastly, in honour of our jubilee independence , we’re still promoting local.

THE MAIN DAYS

Let’s get into the national aspects of Spicemas now:

Traditional Mas Festival – this year’s only “final” event occurring outside of the capital. I like that this festival preserves and highlights the traditional parts of Spicemas outside of JabJab. The Vieux Corps, Wild Indian, Shortknee and Maypole get a stage. The variety of vieux corps and creativity, also the craftsmanship of the costumes depicts an element of carnival that cannot be mass produced. In line with this festival, I see an opportunity for the outer parish carnival launches to also be spotlighted by the Spicemas Corporation to highlight how engrained mas is to our people, and looks different from what is most publicized on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Wishing congratulations to all 2024 winners and wishing them the best for next year.

Kids’ Carnival Frolic – this was my foundation into carnival and will remain a favourite of mine. The number of participants this year did look a bit lower than usual and if there needs to be a subsidizing of cost, I hope we channel it here. I hope we increase subventions to ensure the next generation keeps Spicemas as part of the culture. Congratulations to all those that participated and won the respective categories. Job well done!

Pause for a cause – what are subventions you ask – these are grants given annually by Spicemas Corporation to the various stakeholders of carnival. How are these amounts decided per stakeholder group you ask. This is where you should let curiosity and concern for your tax paying dollar lead you to asking the right questions to the relevant authorities.   That’s all I have on that.

Majestic Thursday – Congratulations to Miss Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique 2024 – Sashelle Alves, who hails from the sister isle of Carriacou. The end! Just kidding, congratulations to all the participants and organizers for a wonderful showcase this year. First time the crown has been won by the sister isle and while some may say Sashelle was a front runner from early, following the devastation of Hurricane Beryl through our sister isles and northern part of mainland Grenada, this win emulates resilience. The same resilience that leads those most affected by Hurricane Beryl and us all through our daily trials.

Bacchanal Friday – the climax of the power and groovy soca competition are a staple for the Grenadian carnival experience I think everyone should have. You have not witnessed and experienced energy until you experience this. The power soca style already has a warrior/ revolutionary element and comes on display in Soca monarch. We have opportunities here for artistes to have their paraphernalia on sale. Spectators come divided and leave sometimes further divided or united. The results are final until another year. Congratulations to all the finalists and the hardworking teams, in spite the rain the show was amazing! We’ve steadily witnessed the growing love for our groovy Soca and this also needs to be given attention. Let’s be honest, our energy levels are not power Soca 24/7/365. Groovy Soca carries us through our mellower seasons and may be regarded as more timeless. For me any hit song, from any year shuffled in the playlist at the right point ‘ gets thru’ but that’s just me.

Pantastic Saturday – pan does not get the spotlight it needs to as an alternative recreational activity that| forsters community, youth development, skill development and a creative outlet. I know there has been several attempts to revamp this and my one recommendation is to let us hear some testimonies from the pan lovers. The people involved in pan year round, could share why it means so much to them. Sometimes pan just gets reduced to the “island” element that visitors should anticipate, for the players it’s more and to carnival it’s a foundation. That has gotten lost over the years and may need to be reiterated to draw ina larger audience. For the collective benefit that pan offers players and communities, I would support continued investment in pan. Congratulations to this year’s Senior panorama champions – Nexa New Dimensions, as well as the Junior champions Republic Bank Angel Harps.

Dimarche Gras – it needs to be said, calypso is a dying form. At this time let’s bring in a business model (This is not to say that these thoughts are not already being shared among the relevant authorities).

Dimarche Gras happens to be our low market growth, with low market share event, while having high investment. Calypso tents receive subventions at the start of the season to ensure we have calypso, however let’s be honest about the stage and evolution of calypso. The music is moving in favour of soca. Calypso is not being recorded for our airways nor YouTube and therefore is the social commentary having the impact it needs to? I don’t have the answers but I hope this element is under review.

Carnival Monday – 🎶Jouvert morning jump up, when we whining don’t stop.🎶

The antics and comedy on display in jouvert would really have you questioning whether Grenada is just filled with undiscovered talents who need to be on the big screen. The innovation, creativity and commitment is commendable. There was an ironing board and iron casually on the road. What really is a strange sight in Jouvert though. I am a masquerader ( meaning I play pretty mas on Monday and Tuesday), and even with that I will always support Jouvert remaining free. Let the people as much as can be have this. It is for some their only outlet to destress all year and we need to let that be. We do have to ensure safety is at its highest as such for1 all involved: locals and visitors coming to experience “The Best Jouvert in the world”. I do hope we never limit Jouvert for ‘paying masqueraders’ because then what else will some have to look forward to.

Monday night mas – a uniquely Grenadian elements of Spicemas, that may attract a totally different audience from jouvert and pretty mas for various reasons. It is more clothed, it’s at night when it is cooler and darker 👀. The price point and the vibe. I first played Monday night mas when I was in secondary school and it was the fun thing to do with friends and still is, if you have the energy lol. The creativity of bands has fluctuated over the year and hopefully this can have more stability.

Carnival Tuesday – Tuesday Jouvert in the outer parishes of St. David, St. Patrick and St. John should be considered on anyone’s carnival calendar. They offer a different element of jouvert in St. George’s. Also a 2nd opportunity for those interested in just that.

Pretty Mas will be featured in a subsequent blog post. Stay tuned.

THE ORGANIZATION

If you haven’t already be sure to read the post-carnival message from the Spicemas Corporation below:

https://nowgrenada.com/2024/08/spicemas-the-best-mas-by-far/

I appreciated the efforts of the Spicemas Corporation to emphasize local artistes in events to coincide with the year-round 50th Independence anniversary celebration, while this was not well received by all, it supports my concerns in the beginning of us not having all the infrastructure in place for the scale of event we were about to have. With more than 6 months to go before we launch for 2025, this gives lots of time to head back to the drawing board and SWOT analyze the 2024 season on all the areas that could’ve been better.

A great opportunity exists for the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture and the Spicemas Corporation to facilitate a ‘Spicemas theme competition’ to involve the next generation in planning and capitalize on their young, fresh creativity in this process. Afterall ‘they are the children of the future’.

Some areas all well may generally fall out of the purview of the Spicemas Corporation and more so in the private service providers that sadly chopped the line and exploited patrons – namely fake ticket sellers, some taxi drivers, some clothes vendors. I know when supply is low and demand is high, so is the price, but some of the cases were too unjust. Short term gains can damage future opportunities and these are some of the risks that needs managing.

On a brighter note, I wish to highlight the Unsung Heroes such as the Food providers, Restaurant and Bar staff, Venue/bathroom and street cleaners, Waste management personnel, Truck Drivers, Police and Securities, Medics, Sound and Light engineers, Decorators, Everyone involved in production, Beauty service providers – Hairdressers, Barbers, Makeup artists, Lash techs, Wax persons, Nail techs, and our Producers, DJs, MCs and radio personalities. As well as all the essential-to-Spicemas workers in both the private and public sector organizations, who worked tirelessly for increased productivity during the period.

In so many ways the Spicemas experience was enhanced by their unwavering dedication to their work, even when realistically unwilling.

Lastly I wish to highlight the people who make Spicemas – the patrons, from the active participants of any aspect to the carnival, to the spectators, well-wishers, the diaspora and visitors. In a special way I wish to highlight the locals – the ones who build the vibes before the carnival is launched to the very end. We participate because of our genuine love. Carnival is our opportunity to break from the monotony of life and embrace our freedom, and our continued patronage should never be minimized.

CONCLUSION

The Jab Did what the jab will do – we had The Moment, you could see it on The Tape. Honestly there were too many times even I didn’t know WTH was going on, amidst all the Chaotic activities. Why were we talking about the Iguana and Monkey in the Tree😭. Anyways, I like that elements of nature that we keep – We drink rum from the calabash, then Stagger dance or give them the Baka dance, and inspite the amount of time we fight it, we can’t stay away from the poison Ivy. I also love how we make the most of a situation, so with all the rain , all the Water – we’ll just splash and still Flatten It. Sidebar: A jouvert with rain I always think is the best ones.

Come to Spicemas to play mas like a Grenadian or witness the mas of Grenadians. Explore the Grenadian culture. Spicemas is on a Different Level – we liking it, we loving it though.

NB: The views expressed are that of a born and bred, spicy, pure blooded, cultured Grenadian jab girl. Also I am independent and unaffiliated with all above-mentioned stakeholders.