Approximately 15,000 people gathered in Carnival City on Thursday night to celebrate the return of the Caribbean Melting Pot.
This event, a carnival staple in Antigua and Barbuda, features local artists and a few others from around the region.
The lineup of local artists in this year’s staging of the event included:
- Claudette Peters
- Threat
- time
- Ezzy Rattigan
- Gang of disorders
Meanwhile, representing the rest of the region were Edwin Yearwood from Barbados, Nadia Batson from Trinidad and Tobago, TeeJay from Jamaica and energetic Saint Lucian performer Motto.
Caribbean Loop was ready for the action and met with Minister Michael Browne, who gushed about hosting the event in 2022 and bringing Carnival back to the twin island paradise.
“I’m more than satisfied, I’m happy, in fact the Antiguan carnival this year is proving to be something that penetrates the epidermis and penetrates through the pores with music, cultural food dance.
Minister Browne told Loop Caribbean that while the 2022 Carnival season officially began on Wednesday, the people of Antigua and Barbuda have been celebrating since May.
“From May until now, you think I would have approved about 127 fetes. So on the average weekend in Antigua and Barbuda that you’re talking about in one night, you might have four or five fetes and they’re all full of ram, so that sets the stage leading up to Carnival 2022…”
Minister Browne noted that the restrictions forced upon us since the start of the pandemic have left people with a deep hunger and thirst for the music and social interactions synonymous with Carnival.
“Carnivals are seen as a liberating experience,” he said. “I think this carnival more than ever is a celebration of the struggle we’ve gone through to be closeted… now we have an opportunity to come out and really live in the castle of our skin and people are doing it.”
Asked what sets the Antigua and Barbuda Carnival apart from other festivals, Minister Browne said the Antigua and Barbuda Carnival is considered the best summer festival for a reason.
“…there is something about Carnival in Antigua and Barbuda that is better experienced than explained. It’s like what Claudette C Peters says in the song, You need it, it’s something you need. It’s one of those carnivals and I myself, even before I became a minister, would have traveled up and down the region and to different countries to experience carnivals, but when you come to the Antigua and Barbuda carnival, there’s something that keeps you as it physically holds. you. It’s a feeling, it’s a mood, it’s an attitude just to hit the road. Where you’re in a band or just standing on the sidelines, everything is just electric, you can’t escape it.”
Minister Browne has also promised an impressive list of events to be held in the coming months. He said the aim is to continue to showcase and celebrate the rich culture of Antigua and Barbuda and pay homage to the creativity of the people.
