I had to come back down to earth, spent, breathless, but thinking damn, that was a real great high! Reliving my Antigua Carnival Experience

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“Experience Greatness – Again!”

One of the biggest celebrations of Caribbean culture on the globe (and the biggest in the U.S.), took place last weekend starting October 8^th-9^th, 2022, and as I watched friends post videos and pictures, it took me back to my trip to Antigua, and my first ever island carnival experience.

Steel drums, rhinestone-encrusted costumes, the aroma of Caribbean spices in the air.

Describing my first island carnival experience is going to fall short of the sensory experience that Antigua Carnival is. Just being there tantalized all my sensory organs.

The exhilaration of music and others sharing this feeling with you, it released a spirit of uncontrollable desertion. Although I was pretty tired, especially because we had to get up super early for J’ouvert, I lost what little control I had as bacchanalia took a hold of me. I had to press on as the week was far from over. The dancing in the streets went on for hours, driven by the infectious sounds of steel pan, soca music, and reggae, which caused even the weariest masquerader to summon that last bit of energy to move their hips as their feet kept moving. Too soon the revelry was over, and I had to come back down to earth, spent, breathless, but thinking damn, that was a real great high!

The Antigua Ministry of Creative Industries & Innovation is responsible for planning and organizing the big details around Antigua Carnival. The 10-day Caribbean festival is curated with the very best in Antiguan food, music, dance and a whole lot of fun. The festivities climaxed on the first weekend of August.

This year’s calendar included:

• Band meet Band showdown 
• Tee Shirt Mas – A must for any true Carnivalian.
• King Short Shirt – An event in honour of a local legend
• Teen Rave – A party for teenagers
• Drues Day – A live concert with many Soca Artists.
• Opening of Carnival – The official kick off by Carnival planners
• Jaycees Caribbean Queen Show – A carnival beauty contest
• Melting Pot – Live concert with the best soca artist on the island
• Calypso Monarch Competition
• Party Monarch Competition
• Pand de Mix
• Emanating Watch Night Celebration
• Emancipation Day
• J’ouvert -Dutty Mas – A pre daybreak, pre carnival day celebration where revellers celebrated by throwing colourful powder, mud, much of which I tried to avoid, but couldn’t
• Carnival Monday 
• Parade of the Bands
• Last Lap

There were cultural performances by some of the country’s leading soca and calypso performers: Tian Winter, Claudette ‘CP’ Peters, Jahsan Hughes, Dennise ‘Menace’ Roberts, Althea ‘Queen Althea’ Williams and Richie Francis.

My favourite parts of the carnival experience were all the beautiful costumes. My top two designs were the Milan and the Honolulu. The Milan was a cascade of white feathers, accented with gold trim, and the Honolulu design was a plumage of bright yellow feathers, orange and green accents, with a hint of pink to keep the eyes fixated on the creative excitement.

It was no surprise to me when I found out that Antigua and Barbuda was recognized with CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER’S 2022 READERS’ CHOICE AWARD “#9 TOP ISLAND IN CARIBBEAN & ATLANTIC!” The RCA’s celebrate the world’s top hotels, resorts, cities, countries, islands, spas, trains, airlines, airports, cruises, and more.

More than 240,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers submitted responses rating their travel experiences across the globe to provide a full snapshot of the top places they enjoyed this year and can’t wait to return to next.

“It’s always an honour to receive recognition from such a reputable entity, it is the direct result of the efforts of our teams and our various stakeholders that ensures Antigua and Barbuda remains on the path to becoming the number one destination in the Caribbean.” said CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority Colin C. James.

Yep, Antigua Carnival definitely helped to put the island on the map, and stake the claim that when you come, you will experience greatness again!