I have been “chasing the dragon” since 2018 when I first experienced Bahamas Carnival with my best friend and decided I needed more. This high is like none other and it’s truly addictive. It is not for the faint of heart. It is not for the weak. It is something that requires true passion and I can say that for a fact having experienced “The MECCA of All Carnivals” in Trinidad.

So I’m writing this as someone was new, most likely like you, to Trinidad’s Carnival and is here to tell you the down and dirty truth about the business of carnival and about MY first Trinidad Carnival. And YES it is a business. We all have cultural festivals and traditions but BABY when you’re dropping the coints that you do for Carnival DO NOT look ME in MY EYE and tell me it’s not a business. You are offering products and services. There are competing offerings within your country and throughout not only the region but also the WORLD. It’s a business.

Ok now to the points at hand lol. I’m here to talk about the three biggest C’s of Carnival:

Carnival Bands | Carnival Influencers | Concierges Services

Why? Because that’s what’s driving the business of Carnival. Yes I want to talk about fetes too but it doesn’t start with C therefore throwing off the 3 C’s thing and it would honestly make this piece even longer. If you want to here my thoughts on my Trini fetes.

Carnival Bands

Where do I begin with this... lol ok.

REGISTRATION

Trinidad Carnival is a year long planning, saving and payment process. For my first year at Trinidad Carnival I decided I wanted to play with THE BIG BIG BAND - Tribe. I know some people had issues registering (sorry to those people) but shoutout to #CarnivalTwitter for always coming in CLUTCH and whoever is running Tribe’s twitter account. I DM’d the @CarnivalTribe twitter account and explained that it was my first time with Tribe and that I don’t know any committee members and they told me one would reach out to me. Within the hour a committee member reached out and told me he’d be working with us during registration. So we then waited for band launch and I would like to say SHOUTOUT to Michael for getting me and my team straight. 10 points for customer service - that’s what we like to see. Band launched via YouTube live - amazing. I wish we could rewatch the live but it was taken down and we waited patiently to register for our sections.

Ok so new carnival, and my first time in Trinidad me said I wanted to play in Mirai - loooool I was QUICKLY corrected by #CarnivalTwitter and explained why that section wasn’t for girls like me aka darker skinned with more body - I am fit but I have a peas n rice boongey as we Bahamians would say. Translation: A big bam bam and thighs that save lives. So I looked again and decided I wanted Quan Yin - best decision yes?! Everyone in Elektra Tribe’s Quan Yin was BEAUTIFUL and the yellow was beaming off of my chocolate in the Trini sun.

*Elektra Tribe’s Quan Yin section for Tribe, Designed by Ruana Evans*

Caribbean women are predominantly curvy. If you are not catering to the women in this demographic you are missing out on a huge marketing opportunity. Tribe at this point doesn’t seem to have this issue because they tend to sell out but as the world changes and inclusivity is more encouraged i would like to encourage section leaders to look outside their biases of skin color and size for their Masqueraders.

COSTUME PICKUP

Let’s take a moment to STAN digital advancements and customer experience design. Hello Masqueraders X app - Tribe’s new app for a seamless customer pickup experience. And I have to say that pickup was seamless. I still have PTSD from the band who shall not be named so this was an amazing and refreshing experience. I timed this because lol it’s me and I do this for a living - METRICS MATTER - it took me 52 minutes door to door to pick up my costume. That means I started the timer when I walked into the door at tribe and stopped it when I walked out the back door with costume and goodies in hand. For the number of people that were in there I wouldn’t call that a long wait at all (I went on Friday so it was busy). So we walked in, I got my QR scanned, I was issued a number and then we waited. The waiting area was comfortable and air conditioned with videos of previous years fetes on replay. When they called my number I walked up to the back area, was directed to my pickup table, got my backpack, goodie bag, costume box, and headpiece and was out the door. They also had drinks in the back if you wanted them. 5 stars to Tribe for the pickup process. I will be doing this check every time I pickup from now on. Also checkout the good bag!

ROAD EXPERIENCE

Carnival Monday

Uhhh... this is about to start being an unpopular opinion piece. I didn’t have fun on Monday

We had come directly from Jouvert (i.e., went home, showered, changed/got ready and left), hadn’t eaten breakfast and were a bit tired but went out to meet the band at 10am. Because my friend had also rolled her ankle at jouvert and we were hungry (we didn’t get our second snack from Jouvert) we stopped around 12 to get food because we needed it. We ended up losing the band and had to walk up and down to find them - not a good time.

*Locator screens from the Masquerader X app*

BAND PRO TIP 2

A guitar is not the universal sign for location. My advice would be to revisit your UX design. Your app should be intuitive and supplemented with a tutorial video per my previous pro tip.

BAND PRO TIP 1

Publish a tutorial video on how to use your app because we weren’t in the dev cycles with you so we don’t know all your features. If there was a video I didn’t see it or read about it in the email when you told us to download the app.

So… we eventually ended up finding the band and my friend sat on the Scorch cart to rest her ankle and we tried to have a good time but I’m sorry the vibes weren’t there for me on Monday. You can tell me it was because I was tired of because we had lost the band and were annoyed. I will gladly take both points.

Anyway… we eventually ended up at the lunch spot. After last year’s reviews I was mentally skeptical about what would ensue but turns out there was A LOT of food. Day one I got the tofu with rice. It didn’t knock my socks off but alas I was hungry and it was food.

Around 4:30/5 we decided to go home because we didn’t want to risk my friend hurting her ankle and missing all of Tuesday.

Carnival Tuesday

BIG DAY BIG DAY! Waited all year for this one.

I decided to use my sense and NOT go out on the road at 7 am like they requested lmao. I know better from Bahamas Carnival so idk why I didn’t use that sense on Monday and make sure we got the sleep we needed. Anyway. We ended up heading out to the road at 12 and were reaching out to the different people we knew to figure out where the band is (shout-out again to #CarnivalTwitter saving lives!!). At first I was so sad because different sources had said they had already crossed but it turned out they hadn’t because we ended up meeting the band at Socadrome right before they crossed the stage because God is ALWAYS on our side.

I found my section Quan Yin - and got ready to cross the stage. If you saw any of the videos from Carnival Monday you know NONE OF US wanted to cross the stage to the shell song and even though the DJs were trying it on Tuesday there was no avail. We crossed to Stage Gone Bad the way it was intended. Shoutout to Iwer the Water God and all of me and my sister wives husband Kes 🤣🤣 congratulations on winning road March.

Shoutout to my personal power and groovy anthems FATTT and Carry on by Patrice Roberts.

After crossing the stage I met up with my Yin Twin briefly - always fun when you meet people in person after months on the Twitterverse. Sidebar - isn’t she gorgeous?!

I then waited for my other friends to cross the stage. We all saw Nicki Minaj - Lol. I won’t comment and have the Barbz - my best friend included try to kill me. Then we chipped down the road with our adopted family for the day. Shoutout to all the Bahamians who touched down in Trinidad for Carnival this year. They were shouting us out on the big big truck.

We had lunch around 2/3 again. Lunch on Tuesday was BOMB. I got orange fish with Spanish rice and salad. Also lots of food. Happy to have it.

We left lunch and kept chipping until 8 pm where the road ended and everyone went onto las lap.

If you saw my carnival pictures you knew I thought I wanted to be a bad gyal and was wearing 5 in platform boots all day lol. My feet were hurting at that point so a little break was had.

MASQUERADER TIP 4

On Tuesday the carts are only for people with bands on. Even if it’s your section’s cart. It’s basically a section within a section. Who knew ?!

MASQUERADER TIP 5

If you don’t like crowds don’t play with Tribe - not nuff space in deh to move. It’s a vibe but you have to be mentally prepared.

BAND PRO TOP 3 If I can’t sit on my sections cart please give me the option to pay for a cart I CAN sit on. That threw me off a bit because I thought sections came with perks but I guess that’s only the private private ones.

BAND PRO TIP 4

I don’t know where the backpack checkin truck was but I didn’t see it lmao. Make it more obvious please.

Last Lap

Las lap is the last lil chip for all of the Tribe family of bands. So everyone from Lost Tribe, Bliss, Pure, Rogue, and Tribe was there. I brought foldable slippers because I know better than to play myself and walked to last lap in those. After catching my second wind I out back on my shoes, went into las lap, and had a TIME. I don’t know if it’s because my body knew it was almost over but the last 10 minutes was the most fun I had all day. And the tabanca instantly set in.

All in all I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just maybe not next year 😅 I want to try some other carnivals as well. See y’all in Trinidad in 2022!!

Carnival Influencers

Love them or hate them. You NEED these people. These are the Queens and Kings that came before us all and went through the growing pains and learning curves when there were no blogs or reviews out there telling you who to jump with, where to fete, where to stay, or how much coint you’d have to spend - and WHEN to be ready to spend it. Having worked directly with a number of influencers and slowly befriending more I can speak to how invaluable their opinions are in generating buzz and creating conversions. And I track conversions lol. Ask any influencer that has worked with me. I’m all about those metrics baby. I say that to speak directly to an issue that seemed to come up both BEFORE, DURING and AFTER Trinidad Carnival. So let’s sit here and answer this question. What is an influencer ?

“Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.”

— Google Dictionary

In my humble opinion, an influencer is someone who can generate enough interest in a product or service to significantly impact be it positively or negatively the bottom line ($$$$$) of that product or service. So therefore, thus, and in turn, what is a CARNIVAL Influencer? A CARNIVAL influencer is not your average

Shoutout to all the Bahamian Influencers I met in Trinidad (also photo cred to @timmaaay_)

Influencer because why? He or she can convince you to drop your coints which can total anywhere from $2K-$5K+ on fetes, costumes, concierge services, etc. This is not a small mans game. I can say personally there were carnivals that weren’t even remotely on my radar of must do next until I saw how much fun some of the influencers I respect the most in the game had there. So what does this mean from a BUSINESS perspective? And I say this as a brand/promoter. IF YOU CAN NOT CONVERT SALES YOU ARE NOT AN INFLUENCER. Who mad gin stay mad because I’m not taking it back. Followers don’t mean anything to me because followers don’t pay the bills. And just like influencers don’t want to get paid with in-kind/comped items brands don’t only want your pretty face there. If you’re getting a comped ticket it’s because you have enough influence to generate a buzz to create conversions. Once you have the numbers to back you up start making demands for cash as well. Any business person worth their salt if they see your metrics should pay you what you’re worth. Ok. Let me let that one finish and move to the next C.

Concierge Services

Jesus be a fence yes? Let me start with the definition of concierge first since some of y’all out there running them may be a bit confused.

Concierge: a hotel employee whose job is to assist guests by arranging tours, making theater and restaurant reservations, etc.

Ok. Now. Lol. Friends, family, colleagues, countrymen... lend me your ears/eyes. If you are unorganized, do not run a concierge service. If you are uncommunicative, do not run a concierge service. If you are not a driver aka you get **** done, DO NOT... PLEASE... I BEG YOU... DO NOT RUN A CONCIERGE SERVICE.

I understand that stuff happens and Carnival is a busy time. I also understand that we as a people tend to be a little subpar when it comes to customer service if it’s outside the hotels or unless you’re a certain hue (I won’t go there) but COME ON. In 2020 with so many competitors in the space if someone is paying you for a service please just do what you have to do. If you can only handle 5 clients only take 5. But don’t bite off more than you can chew. I will not speak on things I have not experienced personally although I heard there was pure bacchanal with one particular concierge service so let me talk about mine. I’m writing this fully aware that I officially have a biased opinion based on MY experience and will tell you exactly what happened and then you can decide for yourself who you want to contract with. This part is long so skip over if you don’t want to read the rant.

My friend and I contracted with Mango Reef Productions back in September 2019 for Carnival in February 2020 - so 6 months. We paid the initial deposit in December and hoped for the best. Aside from an email confirmation of deposit receipt I received no documentation of my purchase. Also please note that following this initial confirmation I always had to proactively reach out for updates. I am a relatively patient person and even though I was frustrated I kept asking for updates. In mid January our service provider said she’d be issuing our tickets and more information so I expected an invoice with my ticket costs and balance owed to pay and then my tickets. Two weeks go by with no follow up, no invoice/receipt, no tickets. I reach back out to the team and am informed that I haven’t received my tickets because I didn’t pay the balance owed. I in turn rebutted with the fact that I never was told what my balance was and had never received any type of formal communication requesting this said balance. In all honesty I took to Twitter with my frustrations because at this point I didn’t even know if my tickets were purchased and my if nonrefundable deposit was just absorbed 2 WEEKS before carnival. She ended up sending me how much I owed after I started my Twitter rant via email and I paid her immediately. She then issued all my tickets except one Sunny Side Up - which she said was a physical ticket. My twitter rant made its way MRP and we set up a call to discuss it where she described how she was “disturbed” at the fact that I posted about it on twitter without saying anything to her directly. I told her I understood why she would want me to say something directly to her as a small business and brand myself and decided to take it down to try to help the situation. I then came to Trinidad expecting to pickup a physical ticket. It turned out that the physical ticket she got was a couples ticket. I was living my best life on the MC Cruise (got that ticket myself) when I reached out to the concierge for an update and she informed me that all she could get me was a cooler ticket, not the all-Inclusive I paid for and that she would refund me my ticket and fee if I wanted that instead. I said if that’s my only choice that’s fine but I’d prefer an all-inclusive ticket. I messaged her to let her know if we end up with the cooler ticket to give it to one of my friends who was also going to SSU because she was delivering their Red Ants packages anyway and she had already told me before I came to Trinidad my Airbnb was too far for her to deliver my ticket to me. So I went to bed drunk and tired and now it’s 3am morning of SSU, my friend tells me the concierge said nothing to him about my ticket, no word or call from my concierge, so therefore no ticket - even though she read my messages. I take to Twitter AGAIN in my frustration. Having already messaged and called my concierge. One of my friends from #CarnivalTwitter (thank God for y’all) reaches out to her and THEN my concierge answers her and THEN reaches out to me. Lol k. She informs me that I have a cooler ticket and she will be issuing me my refund but I have to collect my ticket at the door from the committee member. Lol again. I go there and he hands me the ticket and says are you paying me for the ticket or is The concierge (LOL AGAIN). I said that my concierge should be paying him per our conversation where she said she’d comp this ticket. I went into SSU and had a blast with my friends who came down from VIP to chill with me - fun fact general is PURE VIBES.

I hope that Mango Reef Productions gets better with their communication and I will credit her that she got me all the fete tickets she was contracted to and refunded me for my troubles with SSU. I leaving that right there now lol.

ALL in ALL I LOVED LOVED LOVED TRINIDAD CARNIVAL AND CANNOT WAIT TO COME BACK! Don’t forget to check out my fete review!

The Business of Carnival: MY First Trinidad Carnival Experience