J'ouvert (pronounce JOO-way) is a massive street party held before the final parades of Carnival. It is a conjugation that literally means daybreak or open day and starts at the wee hours and works it's way until around noon. We march and dance down the street behind bands until we get to around the Carnival village or stadium where we have the Jump-up. It's just what it sounds like. People come in silly costumes and tramp all day. Even though ours is big, it is actually considered one of the (gasp) lame ones of the East Caribbean. It is still, however, the largest in the VI and we always try to make it a good time.
J'ouvert was going to be shut down because of a lot of misbehaving, but they pushed it up this year and everything was cool. That is what happens when you get 10,000 drunk people together at once: someone fights. This year was pleasant and started after 6 am so there was lots of light and not enough time. People still had a great time and I think everyone realized that we shouldn't lose one of our local traditions because of stupidness.
Usually there is powder and dye thrown as well. I saw a few people in curry yellow dye, but not too many. I was a bit disappointed. I did boogie and break in my boots for sure and had a blast the whole time. Sorry about the lame picture and video quality. I had my camera in a housing for fear of beer, water, and/or dye being spilled. Today is the Children's Parade and tomorrow is the super popular Adult Parade. I hope to catch one. Happy Carnival!
No comments:
Post a Comment