Scores of persons yesterday lined the streets to view the 2019 Guyana Carnival ‘Masquerade Road Parade’.
The parade, which was expected to start at 10 am, moved off hours later from its starting point. Beginning at the intersection of Camp Road and Carifesta Avenue, bands moved along Carifesta Avenue onto Vlissengen Road and paused as they arrived in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens. The parade was expected to continue along North Road and to the National Park, its ending point.
As the bands made their way along the parade route on Carifesta Avenue, the rain came down. However, that did not stop the revelers from dancing and singing to the tunes and the water seemed to give some of the revelers more energy. The colourful, yet revealing costumes, had members of the public mesmerised by their extravagance and vibrant colours. One woman, who went to see the parade with her two children, said that she loved the colours of the costumes. “The costumes look lovely. I like the ones that got the big feathery wings at the back, the girls look nice,” said Onika (only name given). When asked if she thought that the costumes were appropriate to display to the general public, she responded that “not everybody gon like things like these you know. I think is good that people could be comfortable in their skin and have fun; it might not be good for the small children but is all part of the celebration.”
Along the parade route, even persons who were not in the bands, were dancing and singing along to the Soca music being blasted from the trucks which led the different bands. Hundreds of persons took part in the various sections under the banners of the Genesis and Pulse Carnival Bands, with the majority of the revelers being foreigners and overseas-based Guyanese who returned home for the festivities.
The ending point of the parade, the National Park, last evening hosted the Soca Rave where Soca artistes, Voice, Nailah Blackman and Patrice Roberts were expected to perform.
