‘Rum & Rhythm’ headlines Vincymas, Kaiso semis moved from Big Yard

The Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) has introduced a new show to kickstart Vincymas, which traditionally began with the calypso semi-finals.

What’s more, only calypsonians who make it to the finals will perform at the Big Yard — Victoria Park — as had traditionally been the case.

The semi-finals will now take place at the Cruise Ship Terminal in Kingstown.

“We are just about 18 days away from the official 10 days of Vincymas, and we’ve 90% wrapped up the majority of our meetings with our stakeholders,” Rodney Small, CEO of the CDC, told a press conference in Kingstown on Tuesday.

“And I could safely say that we are happy and we are excited to go with Vincymas. Even if you say tomorrow, ‘Time to go’, we’re ready to go. And that is really a blessing,” said Small, who became CEO of CDC in March.

He said the festival kicks off with “Rum & Rhythm”.

“We went back to the calendar, we went back to the drawing board, and looked at our products, and looked at some that needed some enhancement, and some that needed some newness, quite naturally,” Small said.

“And Rum and Rhythm is the official kick-start of carnival. We see it as the kickstart party, which starts with 10 days, which used to be Fantastic Friday.”

He said the CDC was not discounting or trying to devalue Fantastic Friday or the calypso semi-finals, “because we also place that in a place where we think would fit better.

“But Rum & Rhythm is exactly what it says — Rum & Rhythm, and if we know carnival outside of the traditional aspect of it and the creative part of it, you cannot separate rum from carnival.”

Small said Rum & Rhythm “it’s going to be a block party, it’s going to be a rave party, it’s going to be a neon party. It’s going to be very hip. It’s going to be very cool”.

He said the show will include live performances from soca artistes and trending DJs from the diaspora and locally.

“And of course, we’re going to have multiple bars set in Victoria Park here, because this is the carnival city, and we want to start the 10 days of Carnival in Victoria Park…

“And of course, we’re going to put out a disclaimer at that event: ‘Drink responsibly’,” Small said.

“We’re going to have fireworks. I mean, there’s going to be a spectacle of lighting. There’s going to be the traditional element to really kick start the 10 days of Carnival. And I would say this now, everything that the CDC do, you’re going to always see an element of our traditional and heritage culture of Vincymas.”

Small said the calypso semi-finals would be held on June 29 and will be dubbed “An evening with the Legends”.

“Because, in our opinion, for most of us here, calypso is legendary. And just to add there, the staging of the semi-finals is now celebrating 50 years.”

Small said that in addition to the 22 calypso semi-finalists, “you’re going to have some legends who are going to be performing for you.

“So we know who our legends are. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, and we have some invited legends who’re also going to be a part of that. But there’s a very interesting twist to this event.”

Small said that the CDC is focused on Vincymas being a festival.

“You have the culinary aspect of it, we have the things that we wear. You have the beauty salon. So we want to incorporate all of these things.

“And at the evening of Legends, you’re going to come and experience a whole culinary experience,” he said.

He said the event begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour during which people can sample “some exotic kind of food, if you don’t want to eat local”.

Meanwhile, Small said he would save the details of “Evo — A Night Into The Clouds” for an announcement at the end of the week.

“But I could tell you, to those persons who are listening to me, Evo is something that you don’t want to miss,” Small said.