Five thousand masqueraders will ramajay with Young Upcoming Mobile Adults (Yuma) Vibe on the road and stage this year. That’s 1,500 more than in 2020 when that large band had 3,500 revellers.
Co-director Tanya Gomes said it’s like people did not want to miss another opportunity to play mas.
“Persons who would have said in 2020 yeah next year for that, people are saying if something happens again in the world, I need to make sure I get my fill of Carnival so people came out,” she said.
She said their theme Awakened Treasure aligns with the energy perfectly.
Packing for distribution was well underway last week when Guardian Media visited the Mas Camp on Tragarete Road, Gomes said it’s not just newbies who came out in 2023 but a wide age range.
“There are people here that came to play mas who haven’t played mas in 20 — 22 years,” she said.
She said they answered questions from patrons local and foreign who inboxed them to ask how to dance, how to play mas, what to expect etc.
Gomes said to accommodate the additional masqueraders they had to add more everything (trucks, toilets, drinks, and security).
“They say we have a truck on the road we have real trucks on the road…printing, branding, framing, welding, bathroom trucks everything setting up, drinks, nuff drinks, telling people pace themselves, me ain’t telling people to drink light but drink light,” she said.
She revealed that there will be live performances from the A-Team Band, but tight-lipped about other surprises even though she said many soca artistes are playing with Yuma Vibe.
Gomes said with the same deadlines as previous carnivals but masqueraders meant not only more work but more chaos in the mas camp. She said as humans they sometimes butt heads.
“Sometimes we does just cuss each other every day, sometimes we have anxiety...a lot of calm and patience have to happen as we get to that crunch time,” she said.
Gomes believes more women are needed at the forefront of the decision-making process of Carnival.
She said they bring balance. This year they added labels to all parts of the costume so patrons can identify them easily.
“Sometimes we bring headaches, but that is just our nature,” she said.
However, she admitted that she could not do it alone and attributes a lot of the band’s success to their team which works year-round for carnivals regionally and internationally.
“I am not the band Yuma is a band of people, I can’t do this by myself,” she said.
And there is one moment they all look forward to.
“When you stand on the stage and you really see masqueraders in their costume in colour in their glory just listening to that song of the possible road march winner that makes everything worthwhile,” she said.
She said if they don’t see that from somebody they will ask why.
“After two years it’s really challenging to think about the magnitude of Carnival because it has grown...we just want to tell people, thank you,” she said.
