Experienced a “R3d” Hot Carnival
With Red Unlimited
in St Lucia!
by Kreol Harbour
“From beginning to end, 5 star service!”
Right up until the last minute, I was caught between 2 bands, unable to decide which was the better choice for me. But after thorough investigations about band reputations and hours of last minute negotiations to find THE costume, we chose RED UNLIMITED, the section, Sun dancer!
No need to tell you that 24h prior to mas playing the ant mill that was the Red Unlimited headquarters upstairs the Rodney Bay Baywalk Mall was
abuzz with high energy and the chaos that comes with final preparations : the anxious revellers who wanted to change bra tops, persons looking to purchase last minute costumes and seamstresses fervently making adjustments, all problems were solved with calm professionalism by the team including my very last minute one! (Shout out to the chabine angel Dana who was so awesome and helpful!)
So here we are , ready to jump with Red!
Costume on lock, feathers by the truckload, a gift bag filled with essential goodies, like the sunscreen, the bottle and cup, condoms…etc so like Bunji Garlin would say : “We ready for the road”!
“We ready for the road”!
Girls dream team
It was on Monday morning, at the meeting point by Caribbean Cinemas that I realized how big this band is for such a small island and how cosmopolitan its composition; from still pale Lana just arrived from London, to Charles from New-York, and the Canadian, Bajan and other connections, all assembled and RED-Y, highlighting the “perfect balance and harmony” with the Ying Yang theme Red Unlimited choose for this year’s carnival.
From the start of the road to the end, 5 star service!
Me
For starter and to get in the mood I had to pay a visit to the bar, all drinks well mixed and poured into our Red cup. Despite the hustle and bustle, I must say it was a good average timing for service. I have waited longer during Crop Over! Only bad point was the shortage of ice at one point but they got rapidly refilled. Same thing for food : KFC and Subway snacks all along and real tasty complete meals for lunch. I had the fish meal.
At mid distance we reached the Red hill, the craziest moment of the road because it was very impressive to see almost the entire band suddenly leaving the road to climb up this hill with the giant RED HILL letters to celebrate on a higher level!
Sections were rapidly reorganized and as we were approaching town the heat rose with the help of the sun and the rum!
Dj Play
Enough to have us in a frenzy by the time we hit the stage in front of the judges section by section then the whole band together in demonstration!
The results speak for themselves, Red was elected best “Mass on the move” in a tie and 2nd in all other categories, including Band of the Year and Best Costumes.
I liked the proximity and warmth of the soca monarch finalists who played mas with us in this band such as CJ “Sweff Djook”, Ezra D’fun machine as well as hit maker and well known Blazin Fm’s DJ, Hollywood HP!
Tuesday was even better and we strongly recommend that at least once, one enjoys a quality carnival experience like this. A high five to the organization, all the RED UNLIMITED staff, help and security.
See you next year!
More than a place .. a way of living!
