The second Guyana Carnival Road Parade saw hundreds decked out in colourful costumes and even thousands more lining the streets to take in the party atmosphere on Sunday.

Streets were alive with colour, excitement and revelry, as participants danced and partied all the way down Carifesta Avenue and into Vlissengen Road, ending at D’Urban Park. Even light afternoon showers did nothing to dampen anyone’s spirit or get them off the street.
The event saw some tourists coming from at least as far as Australia and the United Kingdom, or as close as Chile, Grenada and Barbados, and several overseas- based Guyanese also returning home to take part in the annual event that is still developing. This bears testimony to the fact that the event is indeed growing and becoming integrated into the Guyanese cultural fabric as word continues to spread of what a big experience the event is becoming.

“From previous carnivals I met some crew from Guyana and they told me about [the]Guyana Carnival and I was like, you know, it sounds really awesome and Guyana is in South America. It’s a bit different to the Caribbean, but still has that carnival flavour,” noted 30-year- old Daniellla Pitsilos, who travelled all the way from Australia to experience her first Guyana Carnival.

This year’s Road Parade included two bands for patrons to choose from: the Genesis and Pulse Carnival bands, each offering a number of options to choose from for those wishing to be a part of the experience while decked out in signature exotic apparel.
The Road Parade is the climax of the 11-day experience which concludes on Monday and included a number of pool parties, and soca and Reggae concerts, the biggest of which of course saw the return of Buju Banton to local shores to perform on Saturday night.
Running from May 17 – 27, the carnival experience had started out with a Soca Block Party two Fridays ago.

Pitsilos said the experience is her birthday present to herself, having celebrated her birthday on Sunday. She shared the experience with her friend and compatriot Laura Fatiaki. The pair was a part of the Genesis Band.

While this is their first carnival in Guyana, they’ve shared that they’ve also attended carnival events in Trinidad and Jamaica. Fatiaki’s only uneasiness was that things were a tad bit pricey.

“The costumes are really big here, but it’s very expensive I feel. It is expensive compared to Jamaica, but in Trinidad I think it’s around the same. But here you get more bands than you do in Jamaica,” she noted.

Nonetheless, the pair of Australians were determined to enjoy their money’s worth and that they did as they danced and frolicked down the road on Sunday. Aside from being a part of the Road Parade, other Guyana Carnival events in which the pair participated included the Elysium Pool Party at Tower Suites Hotel and the Stinging Nettles concert which featured live performances by Kes the Band and some local artistes.

“We went to the Elysium Poolside Party that was amazing; that was so good and after that we went to Kes. We only arrived Tuesday, so we missed a lot of stuff,” Pitsilos said.
The pair, who are staying at the home of a friend, said they’re not sure just yet when they plan to leave, wanting to see how much more of the country they can experience while they’re here.

Also out enjoying the day was 26-year- old Charlie Tokeley from the United Kingdom. He also came for the Guyanese experience.

“Guyana seems like an interesting part of the world, so I wanted to have the experience. It’s fun, it’s lively, so I came down to have a look,” Tokeley shared.
This is his second year taking in the Guyana Carnival experience, having been here for the inaugural hosting last year.