Big bands happy to share the Ring Road at UWI Carnival
Published:Saturday | February 17, 2024 | 12:05 AMShanel Lemmie/Staff Reporter
As Jamaica’s population of tertiary students prepare to play Mas at The University of the West Indies Carnival on March 16, Jamaica Carnival bands Yard Mas, GenXS and Xodus are ready to make themselves known on the Ring Road.
At the recent band launch for the university carnival season, the staple local bands each brought two of their frontline costumes to give the young revellers a taste of what to expect.
Explaining their allegiance to UWI Carnival, former UWI Pelican and Yard Mas director Dania Beckford told The Gleaner, “Carnival started at UWI, it was out of the love for this type of celebration that students from the Eastern Caribbean decided to bring it here. Because Yard Mas Carnival is everything authentic about Jamaica, we decided that what better way to celebrate than by partnering with UWI. So we’re getting back to our roots. Almost everybody that is a director in Yard Mas went to UWI, we all participated on Ring Road and we planned Ring Road as well. Our managing director, Andrew Bellamy, he was CEAC of the guild, so he did this that’s happening right now,” Beckford said, referring to the launch.
Flanked by their Lion King and Pink Panther frontline sections, Beckford continued, “It’s kind of like a full-circle moment for us all to celebrate back at UWI, and it’s not just that. It’s also having internships for UWI students in our production department and in our marketing department. And we’re going even further, where we have select costumes that are being sold here at UWI to students at a discounted cost. We decided that because UWI is our root and [it’s]where we spread our own wings for carnival, we’re gonna partner here today.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Xodus Marketing Manager Shanique Hayden said, “UWI Carnival did start carnival in Jamaica, so we have to always honour our roots, and so that is why we have decided to even display some of our Jamaica carnival costumes here at UWI. It’s very important for us to engage the younger audience in the carnival culture in Jamaica because they are the ones that are gonna grow, they are the future of carnival in Jamaica. So it’s very important for us to engage them at this level, for them to understand and become a part of the Xodus family from as young as they are.”
REGENCY FRONTLINE AND ROARING TWENTIES BACKLINE
“We launched our university costume package that we had for university students, so they are able to purchase a costume from Xodus, at a discounted rate of course. We also have our university T-shirt package this year, and, of course, they are open to purchase any Xodus costume or T-shirt package that they want to purchase, because it’s available to them as well,” Hayden explained.
Giving the young revellers a taste of their offerings, Xodus displayed the Regency Frontline and their Roaring Twenties Backline.
Rounding out the trio of bands, GenXS came out with their Volcanoes Frontline section.
With their partners Smirnoff and Rum Stripe on board, GenXS says they are prepared to create an unforgettable experience with their deejays: Selector Watty, King Taj and LDV.
Monet Flowers, assistant director of marketing and brand management at GenXS, explained, “I think GenXS is all about empowering other brands, and we’re really trying to bring back that culture to carnival in Jamaica. So we’re really honoured to partner with the university to bring this experience to Ring Road. We’re gonna have two trucks on the road, we’re gonna have our powers of Smirnoff and Rum Stripe partnering with us to bring ‘Unleash the Dragon’ to Ring Road. GenXS is all about bringing that culture together, so, of course, we’re here, and, of course, we’re excited.”
The UWI Carnival season will last from March 14-17.