Heavy promotion ahead of Carnival 2019

Members of the National Festivals Commission are actively promoting and marketing Carnival 2019 way ahead of schedule.  Two teams from the Commission are currently on separate missions overseas promoting the annual summer festival with the aim of attracting more visitors to the island next year.
In addition to this, the Commission has already released the schedule of events for Carnival which includes a few changes.
Minister of National Festival Daryll Matthew, who is leading a team in London, says that his delegation met over 120 tour operators, travel agents and social media influencers last evening to promote the destination and the festival. They also met with organisers and the managers of Notting Hill Carnival, marketed as the largest festival in Europe to discuss possible collaboration.
Matthew also revealed that a second delegation is on the Uber Cruise which has become a major highlight on the Caribbean’s entertainment calendar since it was launched in 2016.
“You are talking 3,000 people per cruise and it is two cruises. We believe that is a target audience that strategically we can promote in collaboration with English Harbour Rum, which is an official sponsor for the Uber Soca Cruise, to make people aware that Antigua’s carnival is happening and it is the greatest summer festival,” Matthew said.
Meanwhile, there have been a few amendments to the 2019 Carnival Calendar, to include the re-introduction of the Queen of Carnival Competition which was taken outside of the week of activities and renamed Ms Antigua and Barbuda Pageant for the past few years.
Emancipation Day, to be observed on August 1, was also included in the line-up.
The Festivals Minister said the details regarding the schedule for the festival will be released to the media on his return to the country.  Carnival 2019 will take place from July 25 to August 6 next year.