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Tough economy can't stop thousands of Carnival revelers in Miami

Posted by CaribShout on October 11, 2009 at 11:30am

This is the moment that Dania Joseph has been saving for. She has skimped on new clothes, clipped coupons and squirreled away a few dollars here and there. All so she can sojourn to Miami this weekend and be among the revelers in a Super Bowl-like display of Caribbean culture -- carnival. Joseph is by all definitions a carnival baby: a gyrating, soca-music-loving partygoer who revels in the rhythm and pageantry of it all. ``It's embedded in me,'' said Joseph, 30, who lost her administrative job with Lehman Brothers in New York a year ago and arrived here from Long Island, just days before Sunday's Miami-Broward One Carnival.

``Even though there is a recession going on, people want to have some kind of fun, forget about the mundane stuff and be free for a couple of hours.'' Or days. Indeed, the world's economy may have fallen on hard times, but here in South Florida, Caribbean nationals are gearing up to throw caution to the wind as downtown Miami's Bicentennial Park hosts one of the largest Caribbean fetes north of the islands. ``Carnival is the official shrink of the Caribbean,'' said Francis Ragoo, a carnival party promoter who has been involved in Miami Carnival for 24 years. ``People say, `I'm losing my house tomorrow, let me get away. We'll worry about the economy, the mortgage after carnival.' ''

Carnival -- its music, its movements, its history -- is a part of the rythmn and the fabric of Caribbean life. The all-consuming tradition unites Caribbean cultures as much as defines them. So confident the crowds will come, Ragoo invested in five parties this year, including one that went from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday. ``Is carnival recession-proof? I think to some degree,'' said Garfield Price, who heads an advertising agency in South Florida that works with many Caribbean events including carnival and Goombay. ``Is it going to be big? Yeah, it's going to be big.'' ``When we go somewhere, we have an expectation to spend. If we have $100, we are not expecting to come back home with that $100,'' he added. ``We may not want to pay the full price at the door, but we are going to buy a bunch of drinks for ourselves and our friends. We are going to have fun.'' A COMBINED EVENT Following years of controversy and rifts among bandleaders that led to dueling, same-day carnivals in Broward and Miami, organizers this year finally set aside differences and combined events. The entire experience was renamed Miami-Broward One Carnival. The decision comes on the 25th anniversary of the founding of Miami Carnival, and a year after the death of its founder, Selman Lewis. Last year, each carnival drew an estimated 20,000 revelers. But with combined expenses of nearly $700,000, neither pulled a profit, organizers say. This year, organizers are anticipating a different outcome. ``All the flights out of New York and Trinidad are full. People are here, people are coming,'' said Glenn Joseph, chairman of the Miami-Broward One Carnival board. ``The euphoria is bringing everyone.'' To help achieve their goal of 200,000 attendees throughout the weekend, organizers are providing a ``recession sale'' of sorts. They've kept the park entry fee the same as it was last yearn: $20. Meanwhile, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau is reporting that hotel occupancy rates are enjoying a slight uptick in Miami Beach and downtown Miami compared with last year, based on early reports the bureau has received from some hotels and properties. The rate increased four percentage points for Miami Beach and two percentage points for downtown Miami. `I've got to believe . . . a portion of that increase can be attributed to Miami Carnival,'' said Rolando Aedo, senior vice president of marketing and tourism for the bureau. CARNIVAL FINALE Miami is the last big party on the Caribbean carnival circuit, which kicks off every year in Trinidad and Tobago just days before the Catholic observance of Ash Wednesday. It travels to several countries including London, Toronto and New York before finally ending here Columbus Day weekend. Before it is all over, promoters like Ragoo will have shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars on booking venues and Caribbean headliners such as Alison Hinds, Bunji Garlin and Machel Montano, the monarch of soca, a calypso-like dance music popular in the Caribbean. All have spent the past few days criss-crossing the Miami-Dade-Broward county line, jumping from fete to fete, where tickets cost $40 and up, and parties range from mellow steel-band gatherings to all-inclusive bacchanals on the beach, to arena-size gatherings that go on well past sunrise. PARTY MUST GO ON A number of recession-conscious bandleaders helped masqueraders take to the streets this year by discounting prices for the fantasy-inspired, flesh-baring costumes. ``There's a whole lot of bartering,'' said local radio personality Giselle `D'Wassi One' Blanche, whose costumes for her popular `Wassi Ones' troupe range from $100 to $200. Determined to be part of the parade, some dancers even made installments on their costumes, said Clivia Robley, a Tamarac resident and designer for Vibrationzz Mas Camp. ``One girl called in tears and said, `I really shouldn't do this,' '' said Robley, 34. ``We gave her a deal.'' Joseph, a Tobago native, also got a deal. To afford Miami, she has downgraded from an SUV rental to an economy car -- partly paid for with coupons. Instead of a hotel, she's staying with Robley, her cousin. ``I don't believe in being a spectator,'' she said.

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