This was my third time doing Trinidad Carnival; my last trip had been February 2020 just before the whole world shut down!. The plan was to fete only, no mas this time. We even planned a cooldown stay in Tobago as part of this trip (which did not happen in the end because we were enjoying Trinidad tewwww much). To many people, when I said I was not playing mas, they were like “then why even go?”. But let me tell you – A TIME WAS HAD! Sharing my reviews of each fete and general experience below so lehwego!
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT MY FIRST TIME AT TRINIDAD CARNIVAL
IzWe Festival (6 Feb)
As the name suggests, this is more of a festival than a fete – a rebranded Kes “Party On The Rocks” Tuesday. We flew in on Tuesday and decided to live out the words of Bunji Garlin’s anthem and go “straight from the airport straight into fete”. The thing is, the flight was longer than expected, and it was already a loooooong AF flight. By the time we arrived at POS, we were shattered, hungry and generally uncomfortable. But we had tickets so we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed to the fest. We got there at 23:00 and walked in to Lyrikal’s belting out Rukshun. Heart eyes. We managed to catch performances by Iwer George, Mica Tejal, Voice, Lord Nelson and Olatunji amongst others, but my special highlight was Patrice Roberts. She looked incredible, like a Soca Barbie and I loved it! The fete/fest itself, left a lot to be desired. We needed chits to buy drinks and food but then couldn’t get chits because they had run out and therefore couldn’t get anything because we didn’t have chits. Remember I said I was shattered? It was clear that thought and effort had gone into the planning of the event but execution should have been way better. Maybe if we had come earlier, our experience may have been different if we were able to get chits.
5/10 – Too disorganised with all the chit drama but we enjoyed the performances we managed to catch
A.M.Beach (8 Feb)
This was our first Caesar’s Army fete and expectations were high. It was scheduled to start at 5AM so a 3AM wakeup call and 4AM pick up was a little brutal. I forgot that Saturday was still in front of us! It was at a truly idyllic location at Maracas Beach, though there was no access to the beach during the fete. Lots of food and drinks on offer, all inclusive. Beautiful people all over the place in swim/beach wear and everyone in the best of spirits. It took a while for things to really get going maybe because of the early start but once they did, there was no going back. Loved the extensive selection of food on offer and the fact that there was plenty for seconds, thirds and more throughout the fete. Staff were so sweet and funny, it was just such a good time. In terms of performances, we were blessed with Patrice again and GBM Neutron but my two performance highlights were Kerwin Du Bois and the steelpan band. When the steelpan guys started, ohhhhhhhh we were flying. Amazing! After the fete, people went to the beach to cool off or continue the festivities. We managed to get in a little frolic before we needed to be on our way because the driver was waiting. All in all, amazeballs.
9/10 – Loved it! Would have also loved beach access during the fete but still a super time
Tribe Ignite (8 Feb)
This was easily our favourite fete in 2020 Carnival so we were hoping for it to be just as awesome or even more so. Scheduled start was 9PM and quelle surprise, it didn’t start on time. Once we were let in, we noticed it was a visibly smaller set-up than last time. Lovely decor but took ages to get going. It also felt empty, like not enough tickets were sold. The performances were a bit meh (apart from a Bajan group that I don’t know but were fire!), and to be fair it didn’t feel like the attendees were bringing any vibes either. Honestly. the highlight and saving grace of the night was Iwer George’s guest appearance during Kes’ performance. I started screaming when I saw a stagehand give Iwer water because you know what that means? Time for spraying because The People Want Water!
6.5/10 – Great set up but seriously lacking in vibes
Scorch Duck Work (9 Feb)
After the disappointment of Tribe Ignite from the night before, we were a bit nervous about Duck Work. I’d heard it was a stush fete so I was rather ambivalent. The location was a boat club quite a way from the city so a bit of a mission to get to. Upon arrival, we noted that indeed it was a stush fete though I’m not sure why exactly. The food, drinks, decor and overall vibe were just ok. Plus, the wind was so strong that day there was rubbish flying into the water which was not cool and I had to hold on to my hat the entire time. And yet…this was my favourite fete. I danced, danced, danced, and then danced some more until it was time to go. The introvert in me took over and I found a solitary spot at the end of the boat club, on a tiny strip of beach and danced the afternoon away under a tree. The staff at the closest bar probably thought I was a weirdo, wining all on my own but I was having the time of my life. Literally something got into me and I couldn’t stop dancing. I had soooooooo much fun, completely in my own world. It’s a stush fete and honestly nothing sold it for me. I can’t even say I would go again. But I loved it.
10/10 for the personal vibes/my experience but 7/10 for the fete itself
AM Bush (10 March)
A.M.Bush is Caesar’s Army’s alternative Jouvert experience which meant another early start. Remember the “brutal” 3AM wakeup for A.M.Beach above? Well, get this – we went to sleep around 9PM after Duck Work only to get up at midnight to get ready (half past for me because I was STRUGGLING!) and in the car by 1AM to get to the venue for 2AM! A high octane adventure just trying to stay alive in the backseat of the car because of our driver’s driving but that’s a different story for a different day! The fete was scheduled to start at 2AM but we were not let in until about 2:45AM! Seriously, it does not pay to be on time to fete in Trinidad.
Another slow start, though in this case, it didn’t help that we’d been kept waiting in the dark in the middle of nowhere for such a long time before finally being let in and then led through the forest in the dark. When we got in, there were food stalls and lots of trucks but not much else happening. My stomach was seriously misbehaving so I was going nowhere near any food, just struggling to stay upright and with it all. At first, I just wanted to take everything in and pace myself. One lady asked if I wanted paint and I replied “not yet”. I clocked that there was a foam section and decided to get stuck in. About 15 mins later, the lady from before saw me coming out of the foam section, headed towards me and laughingly but deliberately flung paint all over me. Her words – “I don’t know what you’re waiting for” ha! She had a point. After that, the paint started to fly, the foam too and all of a sudden we were lining up beside the trucks to hit the road at 5AM with Nailah Blackman. Ladies…line up! There’s nothing like the Jouvert road and this was too much fun. A highlight for me was at 6AM when the DJ played Lyrikal’s “The Ambush” – let’s just say I went nuts. Having experienced Jouvert on Carnival Monday, I would still recommend going for that, it’s just a different and special experience going through the streets that you will play mas in later in the day and on Tuesday. But as an alternative experience, A.M.Bush was pure fire. I had an incredible experience and despite the fact I ended up spending the rest of the day in bed sick, this was absolutely one of the top (if not THE top!) fetes for me. Just be ready to be covered in paint and foam, there’s no getting out of that!
10/10 – Vibes on Vibes on VIBESSSSSSSSSSS. Actually 9/10 – I’m deducting a point for the inexcusable late start and poor washroom facilities
Jouvert with Dirty Medics (12 Feb)
Kick off was 4AM in the streets of Woodbrook in Port of Spain. Slow start (shocker!) but this time it reaaaaaally took a while for people to get into the groove. I enjoyed myself thoroughly but also noticed that a lot of ppl were just walking along rather than dancing, didn’t seem like they were into it. Also, if there was a soca artist with us, I didn’t see or hear them. On the plus-side, I definitely ended up less dirty than A.M.Bush which I thoroughly appreciated seeing as we were flying out later that day and I didn’t want to spend the rest of the morning scrubbing paint and whatnot off me. Once we went onto the Savanah, things went into a different gear in the best of ways. Loved that they had a section at the end with food and drinks and space for a cooldown.
7/10 – a nice Jouvert experience
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Overall impression of fetes and carnival this go-round – a mixed bag. First things first, nothing starts on time and it doesn’t pay to be the first one in because things usually haven’t even been fully set up so you might miss out on some goodies and freebies and anyone who knows me knows how much I love freebies! On a more serious note, one big takeaway from this trip was how expensive everything was. I have seen so many comments about this online and it really is something that needs to be addressed. The prices for accommodation, fetes, costumes, everything is verges on the ridiculous and nowhere near delivering any type of value for amounts demanded. Even DJ Private Ryan tweeted about it, so you know it’s deep. It definitely felt like we were getting less for our money’s worth this time, and even allowing for inflation, the cost increases do seem a bit extortionate. I don’t see how these costs can be sustainable and it’s sad that it takes away from the experience somewhat. Anyhoo, we had an amazing time nonetheless and I really hope to make it for another carnival in the future AND play mas too. Let’s see with these costs though…
