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Review: Miami Carnival 25 - Event brings economic boost to South Florida

Posted by CaribShout on October 18, 2009 at 9:00am

A kaleidoscope of costumes, titillating soca music and hedonistic revelry will dominate, when Carnival lovers from all over the U.S. and overseas descend upon the Bicentennial Park in Downtown Miami for the Miami-Broward One Carnival on Saturday and Sunday Oct. 10 and 11. In these harsh economic times, South Florida stands to benefit immensely from this event, especially in the areas of tourism and retail, as thousands of people make the annual trek to delight in the pageantry and fantasy of the this elaborate event. This staging will mark the 25th anniversary of the Miami Carnival and the first ever combined carnival for both counties. Yvette Harris, press manager said, "The Miami-Broward One Carnival committee is extremely excited to be providing a unified front for this 25th anniversary celebration of Miami carnival. I hope that this will be the foundation that will be laid for years to come." Promoters are expecting a much larger crowd this year with the merger and are presenting a much bigger line-up of entertainers. There are about of 36 bands registered for the parade which will begin at NE 2nd Ave between NE 29th and NE 35 Street (1 block West of Biscayne Blvd.) The parade moves South on NE 2nd Ave., East on NE 13th Street, South on North Bayshore Drive and into Bicentennial Park. Economic Benefit With the event bringing huge economic benefits to South Florida each year, Harris is hoping that one day the parade route will be as long as it is in New York. But according to her, it will take more communicating with the local government to place them within the fabric of the Miami-Broward One Carnival. "One of the things that we're doing this year with the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau is a survey. They sponsored a PDA survey and we're going find out where people come from, where they are staying etc, so we can chronicle the economic impact," Harris said. Harris is confident that if the committee can show the county concrete data on the economic impact of the carnival, then it will justify them having a more extensive street parade. When it comes to Miami, even on a regular day, the cost and availability of parking is a sore point. But Harris pointed out that parking this year, despite the numbers, will be much better. "The city will have $5 parking lots available and we have been assured by transit that they will have enough buses and trains to transport carnival goers who prefer to travel mass transit." This year, with more entertainers lined up for the event, patrons can expect to soca all night (or at least until 11pm when the park closes) to the sounds of Bunji Garlin, Fayon Lyons, Asylum Band, Roy Cape Kaiso All Stars, Byron Lee's Dragonaires, Red Hot Flames, David Rudder, Iwer George and a host of others.
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