A meeting to discuss a possible change to the format for J’ouvert 2022 is slated to be held with the various jam bands and Cabinet next week.
Cabinet spokesperson Samantha Marshall addressed the matter at the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday.
“It is expected that Carnival will have stakeholders’ meetings with the jam bands. We note that there are some considerations for alterations in the style of the J’ouvert, and so we would like to be fully aware of that coming out of that meeting so that we are all on the same page.
“We do hope that we will be able to have a very exciting J’ouvert for 2022 and I think that we are well on the way to that,” Marshall said.
Marshall did not say why the government may be considering making changes to the J’ouvert format, but she did indicate what they are looking at for the popular event.
“I can only say what was reported, but I think part of it is to make it more like a fete environment as opposed to an open J’ouvert environment; these were some of the considerations that we understand the jam band organisers were having.
“We just wanted to be clear and that is why it is recommended they meet with the Cabinet to somewhat give us a better understanding of what is happening. Although Cabinet is [taking a break] there is a small committee that will meet with them,” she explained.
This proposed change comes on the heels of previous plans put forward by the Ministry of Creative Industries and Innovation to move all the parades out of the city to around the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.
That proposal was however met with lots of pushback from members of the public, moreso vendors who felt that the change to the route would result in diminished sales.
Cabinet agreed with that stance and has since confirmed that all Carnival activities will remain in St John’s.
Carnival celebrations will officially kick off on July 27, but T-Shirt Mas’ will take place today from 3pm. The starting point is the TN Kirnon School grounds.