A mix­ture of po­lice, pri­vate guards and re­tired po­lice of­fi­cers were de­ployed to keep spec­ta­tors and rev­ellers safe for Car­ni­val in Ch­agua­nas yes­ter­day.

May­or Gopaul Bood­han said he ex­pect­ed over 25,000 peo­ple to at­tend de­spite the eco­nom­ic down­turn. A to­tal of 20 bands were reg­is­tered to cross the stage at Ram­saran Street for J’Ou­vert cel­e­bra­tions.

Jun­abo’s pre­sen­ta­tion of Yab­ba Dab­ba Doo was the first band to cross the stage around 5.30 am.

This year’s pre­sen­ta­tion was ded­i­cat­ed to Roland Ho­sein who died in Jan­u­ary.

Al­so mak­ing its way on stage was the May­or’s Char­i­ty Band en­ti­tled Count Your Bless­ings.

This band did not com­pete for prizes but was a char­i­ta­ble ef­fort of the Of­fice of the May­or to as­sist dif­fer­ent­ly-abled chil­dren in the bor­ough. Oth­er big bands as ICan­dy used a mix­ture of mud, body paint and coloured pow­der as part of their cos­tumes.

Al­so mak­ing an im­pact at the event were the bands Re­hab, Red Army, Saints and Sin­ners and Dut­ty Set­tle­ment.