The Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) is gearing up for an early launch of Vincy Mas, aiming to blend nostalgia with the future of the festival.
According to CDC CEO Rodney Small, the media launch, themed “The Great Escape,” is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th, just after the Easter holiday.
This event aims to position St. Vincent and the Grenadines as a premier tourism product, offering visitors a stress-free escape through the freedom of carnival.
Following the media launch, the official carnival launch, dubbed “One Road,” will take place three days later on the tarmac. This year’s festival will lean heavily on a “Then, Now, Next” concept to create a strong emotional attachment for attendees.
Organizers plan to evoke nostalgia by celebrating the musical era from 2000 to 2020, while also embracing current trends and looking ahead to the festival’s future in 2026 and beyond.
Small is also sounding the alarm over the decline of live stage shows in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, urging promoters to help revive this crucial aspect of the culture.
Hel expressed concern that the local entertainment landscape has shifted heavily toward DJ-led events and Sunday brunches, making it increasingly difficult for promoters to successfully host live band performances.
Small noted a stark contrast with other regional festivals, such as in Trinidad and Grenada, where massive stage shows remain the “main course” of the carnival experience while other events act as appetizers.
Locally, there has been an unfortunate cultural shift where some audiences now view stage shows as boring, occasionally even booing live bands off the stage.
To combat this trend, the CDC is looking into future incentives to encourage private promoters to host more stage shows, which would ensure that local artists have platforms to perform and earn outside of CDC-run competitions.
Addressing the recent regional criticism of St. Vincent’s heavily debated “bush music,” Small defended the genre’s uniqueness but acknowledged the need for better quality control if artiste want to compete for major international awards.
Small emphasized that artiste must learn to network, properly negotiate their contracts, and avoid the mindset of just wanting to “eat a food” without long-term career planning.