The Community Centre St Paul’s, St George, has been a hive of activity, every evening late into the night and early mornings, since May and will continue its busy schedule until the day of the Big Event arrives. Volunteers, male and female work tirelessly to ensure that the event remains truly authentic, keeping its Grenadian roots. The Children’s Carnival Frolic.
Costumes are being meticulously handmade, wire frames constructed, and the spirit of carnival, for approximately 100 youngsters from 3 – 15 years old, is being nurtured. This year Commancheros & Associates’ theme is “Splash!” and the first national viewing of their hard work, and that of all participating children’s sections of the bands, will take the stage on Saturday, 4 August 2018.
Commancheros has been pleased to see the numbers of children participating, remain constant over the past few years, particularly as this indicates a continued interest by both parents and children in seeing the event continue as an integral part Grenada’s Spicemas. With its track record of wins as Children’s Band of the Year and winning the Junior Queen’s title 6 years in a row (2011 – 2016), the dedication, artistry and skill of the supporting teams is apparent.
Spokesperson for the band, Alyssa Bierzynksi commented, “Other than Carnival being such an integral part of the Grenadian experience, participating in the Children’s Carnival Frolic gives the children a chance to let their imaginations run wild. For a few days, they get to be ice cream fairies, African warriors, or characters from our favourite stories and legends.”
“With our theme “Splash” they will see how one can interpret words such as, water, paint and oil, and transform them into elaborate costumes,” she concluded.
One of the biggest challenges facing all of the bands is the sourcing and expense of materials for the costumes, as most of these have to be imported because of the difficulty entailed in finding them locally. In spite of this many groups are still committed to making the costumes in Grenada, rather than importing ready-made apparel, however the funding is always a challenge and the bands are crying out for support.
Ronald Hughes, Managing Director Guardian General Insurance (OECS) Ltd who has donated to the children’s section of Commancheros for a number of years, stated, “This is an integral part of our culture and we believe strongly that our young people should be exposed to, and participate in it. It is not only a fun time for them, but as they get older it also affords them the opportunity to understand the roots of the festival and what it means for them, past and present. We, as a company, cannot fully understand the challenges of making costumes for 100 children of differing ages, but we do understand that finance is required and urge as many of Grenada’s corporate entities as possible to donate to a band of their choice, to make sure that this future of our culture remains firmly in place.”
A welcome visitor to the Commancheros workshop, Hughes, looks forward to seeing the final results of all the hard work, as the children’s costumes take shape to make a big ‘Splash ‘at Spicemas 2018.
Guardian General Insurance (OECS) Ltd
