Saint Lucia’s 2025 carnival will be launched in Miami on Friday as part of the annual Miami Carnival celebrations held over the Columbus Day weekend.
More than 100,000 people are expected to participate in Miami carnival, which is marking 40 years this year.
On Wednesday, the head of Marketing of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) Dexter Percil and the chairperson of the Carnival Planning and Management Committee (CPMC) Tamara Gibson gave some insight regarding the focus this year.
“For Saint Lucia, it is important that we export what we offer when it come to the culture and so the music that we produce from Saint Lucia is very unique, it is very rich and it is important that we at the SLTA offer the artiste that platform where they can showcase and have an avenue so that the world can see what we can produce,” Percil said.
“So this year we are focusing on ensuring that the music from Saint Lucia, our infectious melody is what we will take to Miami,” he disclosed.
The Saint Lucia carnival launch will expose the product to trade, the diaspora, media and influencers organisers say.
The artistes who will be participating in a number of events and showcases following Friday’s launch include; Ezra, Imran Nerdy, Umpa, Sedale, Shemmy J, Subance and Arthur Allain.
Tamara Gibson of the CPMC explained the reason for choosing Miami for the third consecutive year.
“Lucian carnival is now the largest growing summer festival in the region and most of our visitors are from the American market. So Miami carnival we know, is one of the most prominent US carnivals and it attracts many revelers from the US as well as the rest of the world. So what better than for us to do our international launch of Lucian carnival with all those carnival lovers descending on Miami,” Gibson explained.
“Also we know that Miami carnival is one of the last carnivals for the season, where carnival goers start to plan where they will visit next. So the SLTA embarking on this launch at this time is very strategic and we at CPMC supports this venture,” she went on to say.
Following the Miami launch the CPMC and other stakeholders will continue to plan some new initiatives for Lucian Carnival, which will be unveiled during the local launch in early 2025, organizers say.
The official programme for Lucian carnival will run from July 1 to July 23, 2025.
