Carnival costume launch kicks off this weekend
Two of the Carnival costumes that will be showcased at the launch
Two of the Carnival costumes that will be showcased at the launch

THE Guyana Carnival coordinators are taking an early start to advertise what is in store for Guyana Carnival 2019, with a grand costume launch to be held in Berbice on Friday the 26th and Linden on Saturday 27th January. Simultaneously, launches will be held in the United Kingdom and New York.

Coordinator of the event, Kerwin Bollers, the brainchild behind the Independence Guyana Carnival, which was held for the first time last year, said that the aim of the costume launch is to showcase the costumes that will be worn for this year’s carnival under the theme “Lost World”. He also noted that the outfits will be named after the main towns of Guyana, such as Linden, Bartica, Anna Regina and Lethem. Both the Genesis and the Pulse bands will be showcasing their costumes.

Bollers said that Carnival is the celebration of Guyana’s Independence and opined that it should not be a Georgetown event, but a national one, hence the reason for the launches being held regionally, starting this weekend. “We learnt that the first carnival was held in Linden, by the Jaycee’s in the 1960‘s and for years, except for Guyana’s Jubilee celebration, the only activity held in May is usually flag raising, hence Carnival was initiated as a tourism event to bring persons from across the diaspora, not only Guyanese, back home at that time,” he said.

When quizzed as to whether the launching of the costumes is to distract persons from Mashramani, which is mere weeks away, he responded in the negative, detailing that the aim is only to showcase the costumes so that persons can be aware of what is in store, and how they can purchase same, plus get registered for the bands. This, he said, can be done online for persons residing overseas or at the office in Georgetown. There are also payment plans available.

Bollers specifically noted, that after these regional launches there will not be any other event leading up to Mashramani, which will be held on February 23rd.

“We will be having a series of events leading up to Carnival, from March to May, so this is just the beginning of a few events. We will also be having an event during the Linden Town Week period. There is a calendar of events that will be held after. Mash is a cultural thing and Carnival is a tourism-based event where we try to attract persons to come to Guyana,” he added.

Bollers is also expecting greater support, compared to last year, since many persons now have their misconceptions cleared up, and now fully understand what the Guyana Carnival is all about. The Guyana Independence Carnival will be held in Georgetown on the 26th May 2019.

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