Government Information Service

by Emmanuel H. Joseph
Government Information Service

Thousands of Dominicans lined the streets of Roseau from the Public Library on Victoria Street to the Pottersville Savannah on Saturday 23rd January to witness the opening of Carnival celebrations 2010 under the theme “The Real Mas 2010”. A number of groups, gangs and individual contributed by participating in the opening parade which culminated with an official ceremony at the Potterville Savannah, dubbed Carnival City. A picture album (for persons on slow connections) follows this story expressing it more appropriately.

Various persons addressed the official ceremony including the Mayor of Roseau, His Lordship, Cecil Joseph, Chairman of the Carnival Organising committee, Alwin Bully and Hon. Minister for Tourism, Ian Douglas. The Hon. Minister for Tourism, in his address, said that he hope that the celebrations this year would stir up a greater sense of national pride in Dominicans as our carnival is for real connecting us to past generations.

“Today, we mark the opening of our national carnival celebrations with a national parade which we say and which I hope will spark a greater sense of patriotic outpouring and a renewed commitment by all of us to be a part of this long standing tradition that we call carnival. Dominica’s carnival, which we now refer to as the Real Mass, is a carnival of a difference: vibrant, free, spontaneous, riveting and colourful. It brings together the rich legacies of our African culture and the sensibilities of our Caribbean personality. Our carnival is for real. It takes us back to the days of our ancestors and it connects us to generations past and present. It is a period of creative and artistic outpouring and that amazing sense of our togetherness and peace.”

Hon. Douglas said that our traditional masquerade forms are the essence of our culture and the glue that holds this great tradition together. He therefore urged Dominicans to be more supportive of the art form as carnival is not just about the music and dance.

“But the Carnival manifestation is also about infectious rhythms, our sense of merry making, the colour and splendour of our costume bands, the transcending power of our music and our musicians and the sense of freedom which we all display on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Today, as we open another season of our carnival, let me take this opportunity to urge all Dominicans to become more passionate and more supportive of the art form. As we being the second decade of this new century, let us work together to rebuild and to reclaim the heart and soul of this endearing cultural form.”

A number of groups performed on stage including this year’s junior monarch contestants, the National Bank of Dominica flag waivers, Sakis from Grand Bay, De Hunter, Sy and Dominica’s reigning calypso monarch, Karessa. This year’s beauties from the princess show, Miss Teen Pageant and Miss Dominica who were on parade also made an appearance on stage at the Pottersville Savannah. Mas Domnique as it is affectionately called culminates on February 17th after two (2) days of street jump up. GIS will continue to update you on the activities as they come along.

A picture album captures the moment as it happened. For users with high speed internet connections, there is a video packaged for your viewing. (Warning, do not attempt to go to this page if you have a slow connection. The video is large and will take a considerable time to download and play.)