Carnival Tuesday!!

After a good nights sleep I am up again around 8 am. We opted to not go at 5 am to get a spot to watch Carnival Tuesday parades.

Carnival Tuesday or Fat Tuesday has the kind of parades and dancing you think of when you think of Mardi Gras or Carnival.  People are dancing in skimpy costumes with elaborate feathers, ribbons, and beads. There are organized groups that buy coordinated costumes and dance to a steel band or a DJ. If you are a participant in a group, this is called playing Mas. Each group is called a band. All ages parade through the streets and then up on the stage where the TV captures it live.

All body types-no problem!

  No apologies for wardrobe malfunctions. That's the idea-exposed flesh. And the bumping and grinding called wining (wine) is captured with no excuses. They dance through the brief rain showers and in the heat of the sun.

Everyone I asked was delighted to pose for a photo!

We head out to the streets to watch the parading bands of dancers in the afternoon. We start out at one of the stages and then follow the last group through the street hoping to find Marcus and Marcel who are "playing Mas" with a band. Here's a small sample of the paraders and their costumes! Fun, fun, fun!

Comfortable shoes!

Stilt walkers-young boys mostly!

Showing a little flesh is quite common!

White guy in an Indian head dress! What's with that?

Such a variety of costumes

Evidently these are very heavy-pulled along on wheels!

Every kind of costume-these for those who don't want to show that much flesh!

Part way along the route we found Michael and Mark and their perch for watching the parade.  I opted to join them on the platform to watch the rest of the Mas parade by! Saurel and Susan went in search of Marcus and Marcel. They managed to find each other!

Michael had food and drink...and a potty!

Mark, Saurel, Susan, Michael. We are staying with Michael and his wife Hilda (Susan's aunt).

Sun has gone down but they keep coming!

Each "Band" has it's own food and drink trailer for it's group of participants.

Your wristband gets you access to water, pop, mixed drinks and beer.

Food varies from group to group.

There are no trash cans along the way. Just drop your bottles and trash along the street and the sanitation workers will clean it all up after the parades finish. 

Saw this with the J'ouvert...the sanitation workers were close behind us!

The DJ's  are on the trucks with huge speakers!

After it seemed like everything was over, here come the steel drums!

Playing up a storm!

Cute girls with mom have their feathers and costumes on while watching the bands go by.

Marcus and Marcel with their band, playing Mas.

Can't wait to see what was captured on the Go Pro Marcel is wearing!

We are off to the countryside-Mayaro tomorrow where the Devon's (Susan's cousin-featured earlier in J'ouvert) wife will be making Lobster Soup! Yum!