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Carnival Monday in St Lucia…the heat aaaahhh the heat!

Unusual for this island but there was not one drop of rain this carnival…but you know what? PAS MELE, the revelers couldn’t care less! Being on the road with St Lucia’s number one carnival band Red Unlimited offered a badly needed wet zone where mist and fans provided the ultimate cooling refreshment, a bubbly foam truck and a corona recreation truck for sexy ladies that suffered from foot pain or male “Redemption” members that cared for a little time out.

Starting just like the previous year around 10am at Caribbean Cinemas the route took us via the highway, along the runway of the Vigie airport to the judging point in town. Mash up do a mad ting, mash up any damn ting (thanks to soca- and groovy  monarch and road march winner Ricky T…yes the man took all titles this year) was more or less everyone’s motto during the parade: walls and pedestrian bridges were climbed, fences and poles were wined on…pure madness, real Looshan style but thank god no incidents and no damaged fences this year (R.I.P. all the fences and gates that died in the carnival battle 2k10 thanks to Supermans Di Fence Tune).

There was a little uncomfortable break before the 12 bands started crossing the stage, music was missing at times and the delay resulted in 3 bands not getting judged at all that day. Just 4 fun, Rituals, Royalites and Mas action (just to name a few) presented their costume in front of the numerous photographers, tv cameras and of course the judges. Some with performances some without, Red Unlimited offered a powerful and acrobatic performance well executed by professional dancers that were part of the section Red Army. The next section was the exclusive seductive Platinum VIP section “Red Light District” with a breath taking pink and black costume that included wings and a rather large headpiece, girls ONLY ;-) and Nuvo and muffins given out by the lovely section leader Cheslie. Other sections part of this years “Redemption” theme were Ultra VIP Red Handed, Red Herring, Red envelope, Seeing Red, Red Army and Red Sea.

A few technical difficulties with the generator and ice suppliy during the jump up were unfortunate but did not affect the quality of the package Red Unlimited had to offer…the costumes offered the spectators by the roadside a beautiful colorful blend of feathers, gems and sparkle. Often kids would end up getting revelers head pieces which puts a huge smile on their faces and would allow the band member to wine “Doggystyle” (last years soca monarch HP delivered this up tempo tune this year) or “Sit dong and Sit Dong and Sit Dong” (Crocodile)…

The drink supply had a few hick ups, certain drinks weren’t available all the time or on all trucks…Vodka anyone helllloooo? This should be kept in mind by the organizers…revelers should be able to get their choice until afternoon, mixing liquor might cause trouble…hicks ;-) The counters of the drink trucks must have been built for 8’ tall avatars, because almost everyone had to tip toe, stretch or jump in the air to hand their cup to the bar staff.
The bar tenders were attentive and prompt with their service, no complaints!

As a Red reveller you certainly won’t be starving, the food BBQ truck is always present and offers meals or a quick hot dog as a snack (unbelievable but even the hotdogs were able to wine)

At about 5pm the parade was winding down, usually by sunset everyone is out of Castries and either continuing liming up North or heading for food. A little rest for everyone and revelers were back at the meeting point at noon on Tuesday to do it all over again.

Popots in de wet zone cool, who feels hot? No need for pool!

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>> View St. Lucia Carnival Monday Part 1 Gallery
>> View St. Lucia Carnival Monday Part 2 Gallery
>> View St. Lucia Carnival 2011 Coverage