Carnival Village Opening
The Carnival Village officially opened on Monday. The Village is basically like a carnival 
fairgrounds. There are rides for the kids and a couple of game booths like at your standard fair. There is a huge bandstand as well. Last night they had lots of VIPs on the bandstand for the opening of the Village, and many of them spoke, including the Lieutenant Governor and the Carnival Queen and Princess. The Village is dedicated to Nick "Daddy" Friday - the late Jam Band leader who passed away last fall. Jam Band is a very influential band in the Virgin Islands. The band performed last night at the Village but it was past our bedtime. We did hear the All Stars Steel Band playing though before the ceremonies. We heard the U.S. national anthem and then V.I. national anthem for the first time (both steel drum renditions, of course). The anthems were followed by a prayer which included thanking the lord for women and the pageant contestants.
The most important part of the Village includes the 30-some food and drink booths. Together with the band stand, they form a big square around the majority of the parking lot - leaving the center open for dancing, singing, chatting, walking, etc. (The carnival rides and games are outside of this area.) Today's paper has a summary of all the booths and what their specialties are. Over the weekend I saw quite a few of the booths being setup and painted. There was a contest to see which booth could best represent the theme of Friday's Roadmarch Kingdom. According to the Daily News, "Top Secret, Booth No. 11, was judged best booth for its intricate painting by Pinto of Friday at J'ouvert commanding packed streets of revelers ...."
We ate dinner at the Village, eating at Booth 28, which is run by the same family that owns the beauty shop where I got my hair done. The family is known for making good food. (Some of them were cooks for the christening party we went to last fall.) We split a turkey pate and then went back later for a saltfish pate. Very, very good, and quite filling for the $2 or $3 each. Here's a photo of Dave enjoying a pate in front of the booth.
Wondering what other types of food we can find in the Village? Here's an idea of some of the foods we can find at the booths this week:
kallaloo, chicken wings, pelau, saltfish, pigtail, whelks, dove pork, corn pork, conch, mutton, flying fish, green bananas, stuffed shellfish, tacos, roti, conch soup, salmon balls, dumplings, macaroni, red peas soup, stewed oxtail and wings, souse, curry chicken, goat water, chicken soup, pasteles (although the booth that is rumored to have these denies it. I'm hoping someone's got them!), quesadillas, potato stuffing, conch chowder, souse, roast pork, tamarind balls, peas and rice, bull foot soup, and my personal favorite - Johnny Cakes! The photo to the left is of a woman at the Barbados Association booth rolling out the dough for johnny cakes. I had to wait awhile to get my johnny cake, but it was hot and fresh. Definitely worth it!
All the booths have their own liquor too. Mostly it looked like the same stuff we've seen everywhere else. But a few of the booths have specialties, like coquito. Local non-alcoholic drinks include soursop, passion fruit, maubi, sea moss, golden apple and peanut. We tried maubi for the first time. It was a little too bitter for my tastes - although I was eating cotton candy at the time... The coquito I tasted today at lunchtime - it's like Ponche Kube - a creamy, milky liqueur that is popular around Christmas - similar to eggnog. After work I had a drink of pineapple juice with pineapple rum, not bad!
Today I went to the Village twice - for lunch and dinner. I had planned on not eating there at all today, so that I won't gain 5 pounds this week before the Carnival Mile race on Saturday. But, peer pressure prevailed. Everyone at work was going over there and convinced me "Carnival is
only once a year!" For lunch I got conch from the National Guard's booth - which has a reputation for tasty food. (It's all about knowing who's got the good food!) Here's a photo of the crowd in front of the Barbados Association's booth. Everyone is eagerly waiting for their famous flying fish at just $2.50 a piece. Believe it or not, one of my coworkers in this photo waited about 45 minutes for his flying fish before giving up. We'd heard the wait was an hour long, but it just doesn't look it. . . . Unless you've noticed how lines can move at island-time paces... Dave really wants to try some flying fish, but so far when we've gone to the Village together, they've been closed or so far behind in orders (over 100 fish orders) that they're not taking any new ones. For dinner, Dave and I split whelks (sea snail) with potato stuffing, fungi, some veggies, and pumpkin rice. The pumpkin rice was mostly rice with a tinsy bit of pumpkin mixed in. The idea sounds good but I'd make it with more pumpkin! Dave also had a saltfish pate from a different booth. I think #28's pates are my favorite still! The dough is so good, it's almost like a stuffed johnny cake.
Tonight we saw the Pre-Teen Tramp where school aged children get to join in the festivities with dancing and bouncing in the streets. The Rising Stars Steel Orchestra played on Main Street. We thought there was some sort of parade since we'd heard they'd go from Market Square to the Village (about 3/4 of a mile). But we didn't see any parade coming along, so we walked along Main Street towards Market Square and found them. The steel band was setup on a double deck float of sorts. They were moving, but so slowly that I didn't even notice the movement at first. They were super loud and sounded great. Behind them we saw some kids dancing and bouncing, and then there was a much smaller truck with some equally loud quelbe music being played and amplified with speakers. A couple hours after the pre-teen tramp is the senior citizens quelbe tramp, but we were partied out before then. Quelbe is made with instruments like the triangle, ukulele and guiro (made from a go squash). The only group I've heard that was labeled as quelbe (Ten Sleepless Knights) also included singing that seemed a bit frantic to me. It's a similar pace to calypso music, I think.
Tomorrow is the eagerly anticipated Food Fair! I'm very excited about it. Over 200 tables will be setup with everyone selling food or crafts! The local government's carnival vacation starts tomorrow at noon, so I plan on being at the fair well before then to get my share before it gets crowded!
fairgrounds. There are rides for the kids and a couple of game booths like at your standard fair. There is a huge bandstand as well. Last night they had lots of VIPs on the bandstand for the opening of the Village, and many of them spoke, including the Lieutenant Governor and the Carnival Queen and Princess. The Village is dedicated to Nick "Daddy" Friday - the late Jam Band leader who passed away last fall. Jam Band is a very influential band in the Virgin Islands. The band performed last night at the Village but it was past our bedtime. We did hear the All Stars Steel Band playing though before the ceremonies. We heard the U.S. national anthem and then V.I. national anthem for the first time (both steel drum renditions, of course). The anthems were followed by a prayer which included thanking the lord for women and the pageant contestants.The most important part of the Village includes the 30-some food and drink booths. Together with the band stand, they form a big square around the majority of the parking lot - leaving the center open for dancing, singing, chatting, walking, etc. (The carnival rides and games are outside of this area.) Today's paper has a summary of all the booths and what their specialties are. Over the weekend I saw quite a few of the booths being setup and painted. There was a contest to see which booth could best represent the theme of Friday's Roadmarch Kingdom. According to the Daily News, "Top Secret, Booth No. 11, was judged best booth for its intricate painting by Pinto of Friday at J'ouvert commanding packed streets of revelers ...."
We ate dinner at the Village, eating at Booth 28, which is run by the same family that owns the beauty shop where I got my hair done. The family is known for making good food. (Some of them were cooks for the christening party we went to last fall.) We split a turkey pate and then went back later for a saltfish pate. Very, very good, and quite filling for the $2 or $3 each. Here's a photo of Dave enjoying a pate in front of the booth.
Wondering what other types of food we can find in the Village? Here's an idea of some of the foods we can find at the booths this week:
kallaloo, chicken wings, pelau, saltfish, pigtail, whelks, dove pork, corn pork, conch, mutton, flying fish, green bananas, stuffed shellfish, tacos, roti, conch soup, salmon balls, dumplings, macaroni, red peas soup, stewed oxtail and wings, souse, curry chicken, goat water, chicken soup, pasteles (although the booth that is rumored to have these denies it. I'm hoping someone's got them!), quesadillas, potato stuffing, conch chowder, souse, roast pork, tamarind balls, peas and rice, bull foot soup, and my personal favorite - Johnny Cakes! The photo to the left is of a woman at the Barbados Association booth rolling out the dough for johnny cakes. I had to wait awhile to get my johnny cake, but it was hot and fresh. Definitely worth it!All the booths have their own liquor too. Mostly it looked like the same stuff we've seen everywhere else. But a few of the booths have specialties, like coquito. Local non-alcoholic drinks include soursop, passion fruit, maubi, sea moss, golden apple and peanut. We tried maubi for the first time. It was a little too bitter for my tastes - although I was eating cotton candy at the time... The coquito I tasted today at lunchtime - it's like Ponche Kube - a creamy, milky liqueur that is popular around Christmas - similar to eggnog. After work I had a drink of pineapple juice with pineapple rum, not bad!
Today I went to the Village twice - for lunch and dinner. I had planned on not eating there at all today, so that I won't gain 5 pounds this week before the Carnival Mile race on Saturday. But, peer pressure prevailed. Everyone at work was going over there and convinced me "Carnival is
only once a year!" For lunch I got conch from the National Guard's booth - which has a reputation for tasty food. (It's all about knowing who's got the good food!) Here's a photo of the crowd in front of the Barbados Association's booth. Everyone is eagerly waiting for their famous flying fish at just $2.50 a piece. Believe it or not, one of my coworkers in this photo waited about 45 minutes for his flying fish before giving up. We'd heard the wait was an hour long, but it just doesn't look it. . . . Unless you've noticed how lines can move at island-time paces... Dave really wants to try some flying fish, but so far when we've gone to the Village together, they've been closed or so far behind in orders (over 100 fish orders) that they're not taking any new ones. For dinner, Dave and I split whelks (sea snail) with potato stuffing, fungi, some veggies, and pumpkin rice. The pumpkin rice was mostly rice with a tinsy bit of pumpkin mixed in. The idea sounds good but I'd make it with more pumpkin! Dave also had a saltfish pate from a different booth. I think #28's pates are my favorite still! The dough is so good, it's almost like a stuffed johnny cake.Tonight we saw the Pre-Teen Tramp where school aged children get to join in the festivities with dancing and bouncing in the streets. The Rising Stars Steel Orchestra played on Main Street. We thought there was some sort of parade since we'd heard they'd go from Market Square to the Village (about 3/4 of a mile). But we didn't see any parade coming along, so we walked along Main Street towards Market Square and found them. The steel band was setup on a double deck float of sorts. They were moving, but so slowly that I didn't even notice the movement at first. They were super loud and sounded great. Behind them we saw some kids dancing and bouncing, and then there was a much smaller truck with some equally loud quelbe music being played and amplified with speakers. A couple hours after the pre-teen tramp is the senior citizens quelbe tramp, but we were partied out before then. Quelbe is made with instruments like the triangle, ukulele and guiro (made from a go squash). The only group I've heard that was labeled as quelbe (Ten Sleepless Knights) also included singing that seemed a bit frantic to me. It's a similar pace to calypso music, I think.
Tomorrow is the eagerly anticipated Food Fair! I'm very excited about it. Over 200 tables will be setup with everyone selling food or crafts! The local government's carnival vacation starts tomorrow at noon, so I plan on being at the fair well before then to get my share before it gets crowded!
posted by Kendra at 8:58 AM
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