Masquerade Band Stragglers

Mas band stragglers interfere with masquerader
By William Doyle-Marshall
Sixteen members of the Toronto Mas Bands Association have registered and are preparing for competition in the very popular Toronto Caribana being promoted this year as Caribbean Carnival – Toronto.
Joining the top bands are some newcomers like Kathleen Hughes, daughter of veteran Arnold Hughes who retired a couple years ago; Narissa Ali has teamed up with her buddy Robin Blues to enter the contest for the first time under the title Blues Carnival Fusion; Susan Grogan, popular Toronto calypsonian known as Susan G is producing Spirits of the Caribbean; Corey Howard is pulling together Black Sage Carnival, Clarence Forde is stepping into the leadership with Monsoon Wedding, Before the Storm as his inaugural Bitter Lemon Carnival production and Thea Jackson who stepped in the bandleader’s arena last year is back with her Tru Dynasty to produce the Roaring twenties.
Late payment of money by the Festival Management Committee (FMC) and bands being stormed by spectators along the parade route are two top concerns of the leaders and masqueraders. Up to this past weekend the FMC had not yet made its first instalment to the bands for participating in this year’s festival. As a result many had not yet printed brochures and some were still decorating their mas camps because they were forced to dip into their pockets to begin operations for this year. Members of the Mas Bands Association which represents them met and decided to wait for another week to work out details of disagreements with the FMC. At the end of the meeting they announced that members had agreed not to make any release to the media.
Multi-band of the year winner Louis Saldenah is leading the charge for better and improved parade arrangements. He wants the whole Lakeshore Boulevard locked down with only masqueraders to avoid spectators jumping into the band and disrupting masqueraders. Saldenah believes all the bands would get bigger because people would have some incentive when everybody (masqueraders) is having a good time while playing in their respective bands. He suspects more people would register with bands resulting in more masqueraders taking part in the Caribana parade. “But because of the system we have now where the whole Lakeshore isn’t locked down and people are coming into the bands we have this problem,” he emphasized.
A crescendo of voices is appealing for the situation to change. Mervyn Skeete leader of Connectons admits non masqueraders involvement with his production on the parade route is interfering with the mas playing public -- the masquerader. “And it’s unfair to bandleaders because we do a hell of a lot of work; we spend a lot of money; then to have the masqueraders not coming back the following year it’s just unfair to bandleaders; it’s unfair to the parade because once you get on the Lakeshore and the spectators infiltrate the bands, the spectators who really want to see the bands in formation they don’t get to see the bands in formation because the crowd is mingling among the masqueraders so it’s unfair to everybody,” Skeete observed.
Shareeda Ali of Time After Time suggests there are opportunities in all bands for new participants (masqueraders). Real honest spectators are deprived the privilege of admiring the costume and enjoying the spectacle when all these non-costumed people jump in the band. “A person not playing mas but want to jump in the band, should become a member of a band,” she advises. It is a simple, and possibly inexpensive process. All bandleaders would welcome them into their mas camps, where they can become volunteers and see how the costumes are made and the effort that goes into preparation for the big parade day and its accompanying competitions.
“If you participate and help you can see. It’s going to cost a bit of money to get your costume but you feel a sense of gratification because you help also to make the costume and when you ‘re out there playing in the band then you know the feeling when some people who haven’t paid their money and don’t know how the costumes are made and the time and effort that were put into this come and jump in the band and push the members who paid their money,” Ali noted.
The message from these masquerade band producers is rather simple: get involved in the cultural experience at a nominal cost. This would demonstrate respect and encourage growth in the body of masqueraders who come together for this carnival affair – rated among the top ten on the North American continent.