Atlanta Caribbean Carnival – A Tale of Two Cities

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Real Housewives of Atlanta's Peter Bailey reppn for Jamaica as Grand Marshall (Atlanta)
Real Housewives of Atlanta's Peter Bailey reppn for Jamaica as Grand Marshall (Atlanta)
Masquerader at Atlanta (Decatur) Carnival - May 23, 2015 - Photo:  RedCarpetShelley.com
Masquerader at Atlanta (Decatur) Carnival – May 23, 2015 – Photo: Red Carpet Shelley

Atlanta Carnival – A Tale of Two Cities

On Saturday, May 23, masqueraders, media and onlookers partook in the Atlanta Caribbean Carnival times two (much to my chagrine!)  The once one-city Carnival is now a tale of two cities.  There was a Carnival within the City of Atlanta with a festival village at the Old Fourth Ward Park and another carnival was held in Decatur, Georgia with the festival village at the Kensington MARTA station.

Real Housewives of Atlanta's Peter Bailey reppn for Jamaica as Grand Marshall (Atlanta)
Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Peter Bailey reppn for Jamaica as Grand Marshall (Old Fourth Ward, Atlanta)  Photo:  iDeal Photography for RedCarpetShelley.com

A nosy body blogger by nature, I attended both carnivals hoping to gain insight into whether one or two carnivals would be best. Needless to say, I was worn out at the end of the day.

First of all, let me say that overall BOTH carnivals did a great job.  The Decatur, GA Carnival held at the Kensington MARTA station and produced by Atlanta Carnival Bandleaders Council (ACBC) had more masquerade bands and, thus, more pageantry on di road. Since it was held at the MARTA station, parking was ample and provided easy access to the parade route.  The Decatur proved to be a better Carnival experience given the sheer amount of bands playing mas on di road and the costumes were amazing.  For me, however, the festival village was not my favorite and the talent line-up could have been more robust (Bunji Garlin notwithstanding!).  And on that note, biggup to Bunji for getting rid of that HUGE area in front of the stage which was for VIP and media.  Now, to be certain, I am a proponent of front of stage access for media so trust me when I say that the ample space did not serve the performers well (it was great for photo opps though!).  The distance lent itself to a lack of connection between the performers and their fans in the audience.  Bunji, a worldwide top-performing artist read the audience and knew he had to fix the issue.  Also a big, shout out to Danskie who had some girls on stage twerking it out in that hot azz sun! LOL

Ladies on stage with Danskie
Ladies on stage with Danskie

 

The Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Bandleaders Association (ACCBA) carnival, in my opinion, had a better venue, stage show and even bigger crowd.  Unfortunately, their carnival parade was a bit lacking due to there only being about six masquerade bands but it did start on time (Decatur started about 1/2 hour late). The Atlanta Fourth Ward stage show line-up was amazing and the energy of the crowd reflected that.  That being said, their backstage area had the exact opposite issue of the Decatur — there was no separation between the audience and backstage nor was their front of stage access for media which meant I was on stage with the performers which makes it difficult to get frontal pictures of the artists.

Skinny Fabulous pulled a lady from Puerto onto the stage with him and she gave us a show!
Skinny Fabulous pulled a lady from Puerto onto the stage with him and she gave us a show!

Biggups to Skinny Fabolous!  I loved how he picked women out of the crowd that most artists would simply overlook – an older woman from Puerto Rico and a lady with a cane who could bubble with the best of them.

So, at the end of the day after experiencing TWO carnivals, I still believe ONE unified carnival would be best since both carnivals had their strengths and areas for improvement.  That’s just my opinion and only time will tell but if there’s two carnivals again next year, I may need to start resting up from now!

Either way, I am posting photos from BOTH carnivals and I hope you enjoy!

 

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