Arima Carnival grows bigger and better

“My job is more that to sign cheques,” said NCC vice chairman Don Sylvester, “it is to ensure that there is fairness in the distribution of funds and the ACC would be getting $500,000 for their 2012 season." Sylvester made this statement on June 11, 2011, at the annual ACC prize-giving presentation at the Arima Town Hall. The Carnival season is officially over and the ACC was given just $300,000. On Carnival Tuesday, while doing an interview with Trinirazzi HD, Mayor of Arima Ghassan Youseph expressed his frustration by the broken promise of the NCC. He said: "Arima Carnival is bigger and better, but we cannot do much with $300,000. “What do they expect us to do with $300,000?”

 

Arima is quietly known for staging the longest J’Ouvert revelling in the Caribbean and experienced a tremendous growth in numbers. At least three bands had more than 850 registered members. J’Ouvert in the Borough begins at 4 am on Carnival Monday and ends at 11 pm. On Carnival Tuesday, there were three individual male, and ten individual female masqueraders, one king, six queens, four mini bands and two large bands. Veteran Arima mas maker Patricia Bailey who placed ninth on the national level of the Queen of Carnival competition, placed first in Arima with her portrayal of Exotica Sunset on the Horizon, from the band Exotica. Exotica was organised by Rudolph Bailey & Associates. Sangre Grande’s Roxanne Omalo, 65, who placed second in the NCBA Queen of Carnival Finals on Dimache Gras night, won outright in Arima.