What’s new for Carnival this year?

February 5: children’s "Candy" parade at 3 pm in Marigot.

Normally, there is just the large children’s parade. The principle behind this "candy" parade is that children will go out in outfits that they have customized with candies on T-shirts, not in highly elaborate costumes. The idea is to give them a first glimpse of what a parade is like. Extracurricular leaders and teachers can prepare for this event with them and take advantage of it pedagogically to teach about themes like diabetes, obesity, etc.

February 11: lighted parade starting at 8 pm in the streets of Marigot

This type of event has never before been organized on the French side. It is composed of three floats (a group from Saint-Martin, one from St. Kitts, one from St. Croix) that people can follow while dancing. Light packages are already on sale.

February 18: individual competition starting at 7 pm on the boulevard de France

As a general rule, the costume contest takes place on the day of the parade, the jury members score individual costumes as the revelers go by, and the most elaborate costumes are worn by the kings and queens of each troupe.

This year, to give the jury the opportunity to see more details and for the kings and queens to present themselves without their entourage, the organization committee chose to create a separate event for this competition.

February 21: Calypso concert at the carnival village

"This is a great return, since there hasn’t been one in Saint-Martin for ten years," notes Luciana Raspail, secretary general of the Organization Committee for the Carnival Festivities of Saint-Martin. The event is the fruit of a collaboration with Raw Production, which is organizing the calypso competition on the Dutch side. The groups putting on the show are all local. This will be the first time that they will have the opportunity to sing outside of a competition. They will then participate in the one on St. Maarten.

The new organizing committee has the goal of giving calypso back its place in the music world. "We want to create events outside of Carnival," the young woman continues.

February 23: Return of the Miss Teen and Miss Senior pageants  

"After five or six years, this is a great return.  We are proud to be able to return this event to the program and hope to sustain it over the coming years," declared the secretary general, specifying that this great return was possible thanks to a partnership with the Euphoria Association.

The candidates for the Miss Carnival election responded to a call for applicants and were selected based on age criteria (13-17 for Teens and 18-23 for Seniors), marital status (single and without children), and lack of a criminal record. The senior winner will win a car and will be eligible to participate in other regional pageants to represent Saint-Martin. They have already been through several rounds, the first of which in December wearing recyclable outfits. And they will have another on February 23 in traditional outfits, for Carnival and in evening wear, and then, for the seniors, in a swimsuit. They will also present their talents (singing, theater, dance, music, etc). 

Plus, on January 28, before Carnival, there will be a local competition for the group that will represent Saint-Martin at the Battle of the Bands on February 24 and go up against the groups from Anguilla, St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Dominica...