Glen A. Fahie Turnbull, band leader and president of Brooklyn-based D’Midas International New York, predicted his mas band would take top honors at the 2022 American West Indian Carnival.
“We don’t go out unless we go out to win,” said Fahie Turnbull, a native of Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI). Caribbean Lifeas he prepared the costumes at his massive camp on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn ahead of the massive Labor Day Caribbean Carnival Parade on Monday.
“We don’t prepare the mass to come last,” added Fahie Turnbull, as Trinidadian couple Horace and Cheryl Johnson, the group’s leaders, assisted with the production.
Well, on Wednesday, Fahie Turnbull’s prediction came true, as D’Midas International NY took home the top prizes at this year’s carnival.
The West American Indian Day Carnival Association (WIADCA), the Brooklyn-based organizer of the annual pageant, announced that D’Midas International New York won the 2022 Junior King of Carnaval Junior King of Carnaval, the adult ensemble of the year and the adult King of Carnivals.
For Junior Carnival Band 2022, D’Midas International NY portrayed “Then and Now, D’Past, D’Present and D’Future”.
Vincentian Francis DeSilva — who portrayed “Pitch Lake on Fire,” reminiscent of last year’s explosive volcanic eruptions of La Soufriere volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines — won Junior Carnival King for D’Midas International.
“It’s good!” exclaimed De Silva curtly when asked during Monday’s parade on Brooklyn’s sprawling Eastern Parkway how he felt about the portrayal of “Pitch Lake on Fire.”
Nearby, Fahie Turnbull himself wore a huge costume, “The Magnificent”, ultimately winning the 2022 Carnival Adult King for D’Midas International NY.
“It’s beautiful,” said Fahie Turnbull Caribbean Life then. “I’m posing for pictures today.”
D’Midas Internationaal NY also shared the 2022 Adult Band of the Year with SkyMaxx, Sesame Carnival, Cocoa Diamond, Antoine International and Branches/Mango Tree Productions, according to WIADCA.
WIADCA also announced that Madison Jones – portraying the “Reine de Beaute”, presented by Kaisokah Mas – captured the 2022 Junior Carnival Queen.
Ann Nelson, portraying Antoine International’s “African Queen,” won the 2022 Carnival Adult Queen, WIADCA said.
The five-day, personal American West Indian carnival returned this year after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, thousands of masquerades and revelers converged on Eastern Parkway for the big Carnival parade, which culminated the five-day extravaganza.
Millions more watched the spectacle from the ubiquitous police barricades, with soca, reggae, kompa, zouk and other Caribbean rhythms filling the air as WIADCA celebrated the 55th anniversary of the Caribbean Carnival in New York.
