Tourism and Creative Industries Minister Theophilius
The Carnival budget allocation from the government remains the same as last year’s, Tourism and Creative Industries Minister Lorne Theophilus has announced.
Speaking at the Carnival press launch, Theophilus said though it was hoped that more funding could be injected into carnival, the returns on the investment can be gauged by the presence of value added tax (VAT).
While the budget allocation remains the same, some things in carnival will change, starting with an event merge of groovy and power soca. The Stakeholder Committee is hoping that in bringing the two shows together, synergy and cost savings will be realized.
Another change in this year’s carnival schedule is the King and Queen of the Bands which comes on stage a standalone event; over the years it proved not so successful and had played feature to steel pan and the OECS Soca Monarch.
At the launching ceremony, Digicel, the platinum sponsor of Carnival, made a cheque presentation to the Select Committee of Stakeholders for $150,000 and Marketing Manager Kerchelle Jn Charles said this is just the beginning of Digicel’s support to the season.
The Stakeholders Committee also released the season jingle produced by Dutch Productions, featuring Marianne and Ricky T.