Batabano pleased by end of competitive carnival
Batabano
(CNS): Members of the Cayman Carnival Batabano committee are happy with government’s move to consolidate the two street carnivals next year. In a press release following the news that next year the Batabano and CayMAS will take place on the same day, the Batabano committee said that, as Cayman’s national carnival since 1983, it welcomed the decision “to no longer grant road closure permission for a second carnival parade on a separate date, on Grand Cayman”. But since government revealed the plans to consolidate the street parades next year, organisers of CayMAS have not yet responded.
Batabano committee members said they were happy that government had agreed with their “steadfast position” that other events should not compete with the Cayman Brac Braccanal carnival on the Discovery Day weekend.
They also welcomed the decision to have Junior Batabano on the first weekend in May, effectively launching the Cayman Carnival season.
“There is much still to be determined with regards to the new parade logistics and new administrative structure for government’s sponsorship of Batabano, and we look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders and parties involved in our unwavering commitment to one carnival on Grand Cayman, and unity with our Sister Islands,” the Batabano committee stated.
Government said in a release Friday that having the carnivals on the same weekend followed talks between stakeholders and government over concerns from hotels and traders.
Category: Business, Local News, Tourism
CayMAS is PPM carnival and election coming soon. Soooo….
I am not a prude but after attending Batabanoo last year it was quite enough for me. Very disorganized, can’t tell who is marching because everyone walking in the street, no choreography, half naked men rubbing against females getting off, terrible music, and DJ screaming their heads off XXXXX. No thank you!!!
You should have attended CayMas before passing such judgement on Batabano then, because CayMas proudly promotes that they do NOT organise their parade by costume designs since they don’t have awards for Band of the Year and such, so…….
It’s a shame you missed Batabano this year if choreography is what you want to see……several Batabano bands like Mas Azucar and Fenomenal had beautifully choregraphed dances in the parade this year.
Your comment about “yardies” is racist and should be deleted by CNS administrators.
CNS: You are correct. I will watch for that in future.
note: I am not an interested party in Batabano nor Caymas
observations from Batabano
1.Batabano was a t-shirt parade. the tshirt folks FAR outnumbered the costumed folks. POOR.
2. their events are NOT WELL MARKETED from the masquerade ball, to outta the blue, to the after party – just poor marketing.
3. also poor is the selection of entertainers – (maybe why they weren’t marketed much?)
General:
all three groups – batabano, caymas and bracchanal – need to get over egos. While fighting here like crabs in a bucket there are other territories/cities where their carnival has grown into a valued product – for both promoters and participants. and some of these don’t even have the landscape that cayman does.
there needs to be a better carnival product – one that had some more creativity/art and better managed events. It is not hard. just those three don’t know how to work together to achieve that.
1. The Batabano parade this year was the biggest yet, with more costume bands than ever before, so you’re wrong on this point.
2. Visit the Batabano Facebook and IG pages and you’ll see how well the events were markets on social media alone, and that’s in addition to the paid ads that are no longer live. There were also several print ads in the Compass, radio ads on DMS stations, and a lot of press coverage of press releases issued to the media.
3. The selection of entertainers had everything to do with availability and cost. The top entertainers were booked long ago for Bahamas carnival and were not available. That will change next year with Batabano being on the second weekend of May. However, as Batabano is a non-profit, more sponsorship will always be needed to afford top entertainers like Machel whose fee alone is over $50K for a single performance. High-end staging, lighting and sound for one concert alone is easily $30K+. Plus, remember that all three carnivals are run by volunteers who have full time jobs, not by paid employees like Pirates Week. It’s so easy for people to criticize without considering these critical success factors, so hopefully the corporate community and government will step up their sponsorship next year.
General:
Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that only one of the three parties mentioned caused the division in the first place, and that was the very creation of CayMas. Batabano and Braccanal orgainsers have always stood united for the unity and growth of carnival in our islands, and never wanted nor invited a division in the first place.
As far as growing into a “valued product”, this year’s Batabano parade was the biggest in history, with some 15 mas bands and groups on the road representing some of the best creativity and art we’ve seen in Cayman Carnival in a while. Did you miss the dancing green iguana? And the costumes made of thatch and sea grape leaves? And the dancers in traditional Honduran cultural dress? All of this cultural creativity was represented in Batabano this year, in addition to so many beautifully-designed modern costumes.
But nevertheless, it is up to the mas bands to come up with such creativity, not the carnival organisers who can only encourage it. And it is always up to the masqueraders themselves to choose costumes over TShirts in the parade, especially when each band offers both options.
I have a better idea cancel both of them. We need to highlight Cayman Culture not something imported from the Eastern Caribbean.
Cayman culture such as?
Kitchen band festival. With a rope making and cat boat competition for added fun.
Throw in a little turtle slaughter and you’ve got yourself a party!
This coming from someone commenting on a thread about the importance of Caymanian culture! You need a lesson in Caymanian history where our turtling heritage (plus the very meaning of Batabano) and the Cayman Turtle Farm/Center is concerned, or take a seat. You know what, just take a seat. Done.
Stop eating Wendy’s and Burger King since you’re so concerned about “slaughtering” throw kfc in that mix too and every restaurant on 7 mile beach while your at it.
You can attend the Pirates Week Festival for that (although people still complain it’s not “local” enough and not a “heritage” we should be promoting). You can attend CNCF’s Red Sky at Night with Kitchen Band and local music and loads of cultural displays and experiences. Carnival is a different format for a different experience, so you can choose which event best suits your interests and go to those.
Don’t import anything from the Eastern Caribbean? You mean like Soca music? Or Calypso music? You don’t want any Steel Pan music in Cayman either? Or any Mount Gay Rum from Barbados? No Carib Beer or Roti’s from Trinidad? There is a Barbados Consulate in Cayman – we shouldn’t “import” Bajans and their “culture” to Cayman either? Just some examples of how ludicrous your comment is in this day and age in the Cayman Islands, and in the world. All of you who “liked” this comment should also be ashamed of yourselves.
Correct. MCGA!
Wow, that was some serious spin. Makes it sound like there was a winner/loser here…guess the egos were not checked at the door!
How can you call a group’s opinion a “spin”? They’re happy with the decision. How else would you have them say that?
The organizer of Caymas needs to take over Batabano as currently Batabano has no rules. Anyone in any costume or swimsuit can join in with any Band anywhere along the route and any wutless music can be played. Soca should be the only sound you hear but Batabano had more Dancehall than anything else. Why does everything in Cayman have to be hijacked by XXXXX
It is NOT true that Batabano “has no rules” and that “anyone in any costume or swimsuit can join in the parade”. The problem is members of the public THINKING they can do so without registering for a costume, but they are NOT allowed to, and it is for that reason why each mas band has to secure their own marshals to stop non-paying persons for walking in their band.
Of course spectators are welcome to walk along the sidewalk if they wish because the parade organizers can’t stop them from doing that, but they are not allowed to walk IN the band or IN the parade without registering.
As far as the music, Soca is indeed mostly played in Batabano, but if masqueraders request a few different genres here or there, the DJ’s will sometimes comply. Nothing wrong with that. You should also know that most, if not all, of the DJ’s who play in Batabano also play in CayMas.
“The problem is members of the public THINKING they can do so without registering for a costume, but they are NOT allowed to, and it is for that reason why each mas band has to secure their own marshals to stop non-paying persons for walking in their band.”
this CLEARLY DIDN’T HAPPEN. Marshalls were dancing and drinking in the parade too.
Public road which I paid for. I’ll girate on it if I want to.
Try jumping on a Pirates Week float come November then and see what happens.
Parade organizers pay a lot of money to insurance companies and to the RCIPS for the ROAD CLOSURE PERMISSION and liability insurance. You are welcome to girate all you want on the sidewalk if you don’t want to buy a costume to be IN the road parade. Likewise for Pirates Week if you’re not on a float.
CayMas has the exact same issues so it’s not about one or the other having more “rules”. The same “stormers” go out and do the same thing at both parades. They should be ashamed and be told publicly that such behavior is NOT welcomed.
As far as the music, the same could be said about Pirates Week events that has historically played more international songs than Caribbean music, just to appease visitors. Batabano does a much better job of focusing on Soca music for carnival.
What a carnival spirit! “Everyone stand at the edge of the road and watch me! No you may not dance on this side of the line. I am the only one who gets to be carefree here!”
Come on. Don’t act like this wasn’t also said in the comment:
“Of course spectators are welcome to walk along the sidewalk if they wish because the parade organizers can’t stop them from doing that, but they are not allowed to walk IN the band or IN the parade without registering.”
There are similar expectations with the Pirates Week parade where spectators cannot just jump on a float and express their pirate “spirit” as they wish, because each float has their own theme and limited pre-approved participants involved. So let’s not be hypocrites here. Please.
Batabano is a party for pedo’s. I don’t attend such trashy things.
Let’s be fair – if Batababo is a “party for pedo’s” then so is CayMas. Either way, no one will expect you to attend either one if that’s your opinion, and that’s perfectly fine.
You’re so closed minded. Have you been to any carnival around the Caribbean? If so, you would know that Dancehall is widely played at EVERY carnival, EXCEPT ours.
“Wutless” music is what you should expect at carnival. Clearly you would add to the problem, nothing else.
Another racist comment about “yardies” that CNS admin should delete.
CNS: Point taken.
How do we accommodate two sizable parades, with overlapping sponsors, on same road, same day, operating in opposing directions heading for opposing termination parties in different locations?
With difficulty and for no reason.
Give everyone swords and let them have a battle when they meet! I’d actually get off the couch to watch that
Me too. Blood and cellulite dripping in the streets.
They’ve done it before, so what makes you think they can’t do it again?
One will be in the left lane, the other will be in the right lane…
If I’m not mistaken, the memo from Govt said that they all have to partake using the same route. I’m assuming in the same direction.
If Kaboo was pulled off on this island, nothing is impossible!
If they are operating in opposite directions, i hope the meet in the tunnel.
The release says that they will be following the same route. (Hopefully from town to SMB!)
Yes I am happy to hear they are going to now be on the same day, hopefully both sides can check their egos and come together in unity for the people who spend good money to jump. The Batabano events this year were very disappointing, the concert in town was not well attended at all, as most were at Cabana for Mr Killa most likely. Clearly if you don’t offer what the people want someone else will.The rain an hour before is not an excuse as we all attend wet fete on a regular basis. Saturday’s event were spot on and well attended for sure. You have to allow for new ideas and growth otherwise your event will die off and disappear. Hopefully they will all end at public beach as CayMas is on to something with that idea, perfect marketing tool and venue to draw in tourists to the event.
It’s interesting how everyone is so happy to move major and national events to West Bay Road yet they complain in the same breath about George Town being “dead”.
There has been a big push to “revitalize” George Town for years, and keeping major events like street dances in town is an important part of that. Put the Friday night fete at Public Beach if you want, but leave the street dance after the parade in town.
Ending in town is logistically problematic because there are so many different events happening at the same time and everyone is all spread out. If the goal is unity then ending at Seven Mile Beach with ONE massive party is the way to go. There are other ways to revitalize town (including the Friday night fetes.
I totally agree downtown needs help but an event once a year isn’t the answer. They should do a weekly farmer market at heroes square, I am sure the people displaced from Camana Bay would be happy to set up there and the shops in town may be willing to extend their hours as well. Maybe every Thursday evening?
Ending at Public Beach is why I LOVE CayMas. If they change that next year I will probably boycott
Maybe now they will include in their marketing campaigns some photos of the “butt grinding parade” we witnessed Saturday. These people are wholly responsible for NOT promoting Cayman Culture and supporting despicable behavior in our streets.
Y’all complain about everything, if you don’t like it. Don’t go!
You go home
Agree. Walking/Standing lap dance doesn’t hearken back to any heritage or history that I am aware of. It is vulgar. Just take a look at last year’s on youtube. Women with their rears in the air pumping, awaiting any man to step up and grind.
I’m no prude, but this kind of behaviour sickens me.
I’ve yet to read an “I’m no prude” comment that didn’t contain ample evidence of prudery
As long as the photos keep coming we’re good.