Carnival Fetes Give Value For Money

Details

Carnival

Friday, 24 August 2012 02:30

Everton Barnes

Antigua St. John’s - The overwhelming success of the privately run theme fetes this past Carnival season has been attributed to what one organiser described as giving “value for money” to patrons.

Five of the pre-carnival fetes – Girl Power, LOL (Lots of Liquor), Red Eye, Ice and Skins - were organised by the Marketing Machine, headed by Chalita Rose and his business partner, Zack Hazim of the Source Clothing Company.

Rose said of all the events, LOL attracted over 10,000 paying patrons, 3,000 more than the LIME Party Monarch, the best performing show held by the Carnival Development Committee. He said Red Eye attracted another 9,000, while the other three fetes, new events, all performed very well. Each attracted thousands of partygoers on its own.

Rose disclosed that the secret to their success has been the attention to detail in all their planning and the creation of an atmosphere based on the theme for the particular fete.

“Before patrons even enter the gates they begin to experience the ambience that we create with our décor and decorations,” he stated.

The group also makes use of social media to promote their events as well as highlight various scenes from the fetes that create the impression that each event is a “not to be missed” activity.

He also stated that months of planning ensured that the fetes came off with little or no glitches.

“We put a lot of planning into our events. For example, our intention is to initiate a series of meetings starting next month to begin planning for our fetes for next year,” he stated.

According to Rose, while both he and Hazim head the organization, each event has a team of between 50 and 60 people who are employed on a part time basis to perform various tasks to make each fete a success.

“For example, we have a bar manager who is assisted by a number of supervisors and a team of about 30 people. We also have a stage manager and a security chief, each of whom heads a team of individuals as well as ticketing staff, among others,” he declared.

Rose said in addition to the careful planning, his team selects top Caribbean artistes and the cream of the crop among local entertainers to make up the entertainment packages for each fete.

“What we have noticed is that when we put our top local artistes alongside the regional entertainers, the local acts have been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the non-Antiguan entertainers. This means that our local artistes are getting better and can handle their own,” he added.

Asked about his thoughts on the official Carnival programme that saw declines this year, Rose said there is need to shake-up that programme.

“(In Antigua) we are stuck to history. We are stuck to the way things have been done in the past and we have not made adjustment for the need for change,” he said.

He said the Carnival programme is heavily weighted in favour of pageants and competitions and that patrons now want more than that.

“They want concert-type entertainment featuring a variety of artistes. They need to be entertained. We also need to market the festival and to create a brand for Antigua Carnival,” Rose suggested.



He also said the planning of carnival starts too late, noting that for example, the appointment of the CDC three months prior to Carnival is not acceptable.

On the subject of Hard Knaxx, the 2011 Party Monarch who was never invited to be part of any of the theme fetes, Rose declined to comment.

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