Chair of the National Festivals Commission, Ambassador Elizabeth Makhoul, is non-committal when asked to share her thoughts on the return of the Queen of Carnival and the Teenage Pageant to the final week of Carnival when all the major shows take place.
Speaking with Point Express at Wednesday’s Prize Giving ceremony, Mahkoul said there were several reasons why the pageants were removed from the programme and placed outside the Carnival final week.
However, there is a view by many in the society that since there is no longer the Jaycees Queen show for which Miss Antigua and Barbuda Carnival winner was expected to need extra time to prepare, the main rational for having the Pageant take place earlier in July no longer exists.
Makhoul explained that the pageants require much time to utilize the Carnival stage for rehearsals to the extent that other participants from others shows are left with little rehearsal time. “Having the pageants take place earlier therefore frees up rehearsal time for other Carnival participants,” she explained.
Additionally, Makhoul revealed that there are growing demands by private promoters for access to the stage and grounds during the final Carnival week to host their events.
When it was suggested that official Carnival events should take priority over ‘private events’, Makhoul indicated that she will refer the matter to the Festival Commission for it to consider and to make a final determination.
This year the Teenage Pageant was held on July 19 with the Queen of Carnival show taking place on July 20. The suggestion is that both shows would have had much larger audiences had they been placed within the final Carnival Week.
