Chairman of the Carnival Development Committee Alwin Bully says costume bands have been suffering during the carnival season over the years.
There were several t-shirt bands during the carnival jump-up and Dominica News has learnt that in one t-shirt band, there were over 3,000 individuals. Bully told a press conference this week, that the t-shirt bands don’t contribute significantly to the look of the country’s carnival.
“We have had several visitors complain about the number of t-shirt bands and no costume bands. They say they don’t come to Dominica to see t-shirts and that is so true…we don’t see that the t-shirt bands need further encouragement…” he said.
Bully is encouraging the sponsors of costume bands to also have t-shirt bands.
When questioned why the t-Shirt bands were not on the list of categories to be awarded prizes, Bully said “the t-shirt bands sponsors have invested much and have gained much and we see no reason why we should emphasize them anymore”.
As a national living in toronto i would like to participate in a Dominica costume band carnival Monday,i think there is room for both t-shirt and costume bands as a previous commentor wrote the band leader need to market this as a business and have fundraisers fetes etc and good quality costumes that would be the main focus for nationals like me coming to Dominica at carnival time is to particapate in a costume band.
As i remember doing when i was a child the costumes were beautiful and each band had a theme
it’s what we are as Dominicans and what we are about CARNIVAL & CULTURE
also the costume band should have live music on the road TRIPLE KAY and WCK etc.on the road playing for them in the long run we would give Trinidad a run for their money.
Amen!!! I’m sure if the costume band collaborate with the bands like stars, ck, fanatic and kkk then the number would increase significantly…..
Bands can offer persons a t shirt to be worn on Monday and a costume to be worn on Tuesday for one reasonable price. This is what is done in Trinidad ,except the price is not reasonable at all.
there should be some fun costume bands. That is why it is suffering. It is not so interesting. and the prices ared ridiculous
well i think dat carnival should b atleast a day more..bcause two days is NOT ENOUGH..
These are the people who make simple things difficult to understand. Alwin Bully is living in a fantasy world and he wants to change everything to make his fantasy come true. For years Dominica has enjoyed its carnival as is, now I hear we want to compete with Trinidad. Now we have costume band. People really want to join the costume bands but they are too expensive!!! Alwin Bully knows that!! How many people have $300 plus dollars to spend on a band? We may have $50? Why don’t you lobby for carnival items to come in duty free so they can be cheaper?
Carnival shouldn’t be about tourist watching, it should be about locals having fun, it’s not a circus Mr. Bully. it all boils down to economics….60 for free drinks all day VS 300 free drinks? I would choose 60.
didnt c bully in costume… carnival originates from slavery. seems lyk officials today want us to revert to that but in a modern form. i not putting costume to ammuse no broke back-packing white man person. xcuse my ignorance
All valid comments.
As stated by Sewonice, reshuffling the format may work. However, this whole process may be two-fold: (1) It boils to basic economics in a time of personal fiscal constraints. Dominicans are not immune to the financial meltdown affecting the world. Conspicuous comsumption is a thing of the past. Conservative spending is what determines where a potential carnival participant will align his/her resources. I believe that the majority of people would like to participate in the more traditional galant pageantry of the custume band. However, it is just too expensive. As a result, the T-shirt band becomes a default, because it takes less resources, time, and money. (2) Secondly, I believe that many people, particularly the younger generation, may not have the traditionally sense of carnival like the older generation. It could be a generational shift of where things are going. The history of carnival and what it means may be lost on the new generation. The idea of dedicating time and resources may not appealing to many people, because they do not see the significance.
It is true, however. Foreigners do not visit and pay their hard-earned cash to see a bunch of people jumping around in t-shirts. They can see that at the county fair wherever they live.
I think Mr. Bully should take a survey or conduct an analysis of why this year’s carnival did not meet expectations. Speaking to a few people, and getting feedback, may give him great insight and future solutions.
if it wasnt for t-shirt band i wonder how that carnival would look.. the price one would pay to be in a contume band registering 10 ppl for t-shirt band
What are we doing with Tshirt bands in carnival when carnival is about colour. In Barbados Tshirts are decorated with colour strips. Having colour enhancements and a colour headgear can make these bands look like carnival and not like a political rally.
Costumes bands in barbados mainly comes with persons entering kadooment for the first time and you are allow to do that for an average of 3 years or there abouts after that if you are entering that same group for the next year you are required to have a costume band, I agree costumes are about colour and creativity. Costumes for carnival must always depict a theme and once a theme can be reached then you design to suit that and you don’t plan costumes in January for February you plan for next year the moment the season is finish. Dominica is a small place in terms of people but you can still mustor up a good 10,000 people for costume band. As an individual mentioned earlier you can have your costume on the day that judging is taking place (I am not familiar with the days that you have judging) and then on the free day you then weat costumes and those persons who choose to wear costumes can do so and not judge.
Anyway I hope planning is on the way for carnival 2011.
Just the negative mentality on here says it all Mr. Bully. Can you hear people labeling costume band as ‘bourgeois’?. Ridiculous I know, but many of the sentiments echoed here I totally agree with. By the time June/July/August, the costumes should already be showcased/advertised and payment plans set up so people can pay. I only participated in costume bands as a child, but as an adult, too many responsibilities and little financial resources have ki-boshed any dreams i ever had in trying out a costume band. Salaries are too small to committ all that money for just two days.
Listen mr.Bully first of all t-shirt band has absolutely nothing to do with costune bands not doing well…that is pure nonsense…let’s say for example you ban t-shirt band you think there will be larger costume bands? no..that will not be the case….t-shit band is t-shirt band and costume band is costume band, they both form an integral part of “the most spontaneous carnival” .t-shirt band has become part of the cultural routine for carnival and it’s a fact..you can’t try to fight it down because it has grown significantly annually. the problem is the costume band organisers need to target their customers better…do better promotions, advertising, financing, marketing for the costumes at a much earlier date than presently…also carnival in dominica is no longer a hi-fi business..it’s all about live bands on the streets, so another change the costume band organisers should look into to attract the t-shirt band clients is to include live bands in their parade… live bands and t-shirt bands are some of the things that helped us own the title of “the most spontaneous carnival” so why…why mr. bully are you not getting with the time and stop thinking old school….i know you can..so do it…
so true but persons dont have all that money for costume
@ Well…. I couldn’t have said it better!!! Its quite costly for a normal Dominican to invest that much in a costume band so they prefer to settle for the Tshirt band which is much cheaper!!! This is why the costume bands need become serious i.e treat it like a business and begin to plan a marketing strategy quite early if they want to make it big the following year. In the other islands U jump both days in the same band, preparations start months before with meetings,ads etc and payment plans are made for the members who sign up! In Dominica they need to take example from elsewhere and plan EARLY!!!!
What you think nuh? Is everybody that have hundreds of dollars available to them to spend on costume band?! It costs about $60 to join a t-shirt band with an unlimited supply of drinks so it is no surprise that most people will take that option…. You move t-shirt band on monday hoping that it will fail and costume band would be a huge hit on tuesdat but you only making things worse. People will put their all into monday and wouldn’t care about what happens on tuesday. Leave t-shirt band alone eh… is that the common folk can afford… everybody not bourgeois!
Mr. Bully costume bands are very expensive. More variety would be appealing to the carnival lovers as well.
sad but so very true!!!
Agree entirely with Alwin Bully. These bands have nothing, whatsoever to do with the heritage, culture or history of carnival. They are a mobile version of the ubiquitous “jump up”, one finds all through the year. Carnival has been hijacked by commercial interests like a virus. So successful has this invasion been that they even have managed to get participants to pay and advertise their brand or service whereas logic dictates that this should be the other way round! Do we really expect visitors to spend their good money on a trip to Dominica to view this spectacle in the name of carnival?
I think a good solution is to have a package. The group should have a costume band one day and a t -shirt band the next. When someone joins they must take the entire package. I would pay 300.00 to jump both days, food and drinks inclusive in a t- shirt band on Monday and a costume band on Tuesday.
The next think is to organise early. Get people to register by August of the previous year and offer people payment plans for those who have problems coming up with all that money in one shot.
Oh Please!
I swear that man doesn’t know whether he is coming or going. Wasn’t he just quoted in another article after carnival as saying carnival was successful? I wondered just how carnival could have been successful if only t-shirt bands were represented en mass and not costume bands? In other words, simply having a few thousand people in t-shirts does not a successful carnival make. Get it through your thick skull Mr. Bully-the present format does not work. There should be more incentives for participating in costume bands including free t-shirt and band participation on Tuesday. Let costumes become the center of attention on Monday as it once was, not an after thought on Tuesday after people done shake their foot and take their sewo on Monday. With proper incentives and proper timing, Monday costumes will work. Furthermore, if costume builders would begin showing their ware in August preceding carnival, maybe there could be a layaway sytem than would alleviate the financial burden for many. Finally, I think that t-shirt bands should be judged and/or at least recognized in some way as well.
This is non-sense for Bully, T-shirt bands should not be punished for their popularity. That is part of DA’s carnival dynamic. The costume bands need to (1) be more affordable (2) Higher better bands to play for them (3) have events leading up to carnival like have MAS camps to raise funds for the bands. (4) Have a T-shirt section for the band (that should be free for costume members)….At the end of the day costume bands need to be more creative and it not a one day thing…they should already be promoting the band for next year.
I would join a costume band in T&T in a heartbeat but not in DA (to boring)
SECOND THAT MOTION REAL FACTS