i decided not to bore you too much with a review of all three events so i will just do one big review of the weekend's activities.

jpouvert backyard jam

this is one of the events that i look forward to attending every year and i have to admit that this year it seemed like it was missing something.  in true jouvert form there was the addition of a powder posse (still waiting for the mud).  maybe people were afraid of the powder because everyone seemed to be gathering at the back, away from the powder (yuh cyah play mas if yuh fraid powder!).  what was great to see was that there were a lot of new faces in the crowd.  i guess they are finally coming out of the woodworks!  as usual, the majority in attendance had a great time, and as usual i am looking forward to next year.

Caribbean Festival

you know every year i try to water down my review of the festival, BUT, not this year!  the charlotte caribbean festival association (ccfa) must be some of the most hard working people that i know in charlotte.  year after year they do their best to put on a festival that will be worthy of our rich caribbean culture, so why is that year after year i hear the majority of the people saying how dissatisfied they are?  

this was the 10 year anniversary of the festival and the featured country was trinidad and tobago (how many of you knew that?).  i thought this was a great way to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the festival. when i first heard this i immediately started thinking, steelband, tassa drummers, rhythm section, chutney music, trinidad artist galore, a live band representing trinidad singing all the soca and calypso songs representing trinidad and tobago throughout the years, basically everything that is trinidad and tobago's carnival.  when the day came, the only thing that i saw that represented trinidad and tobago was the insomniacs pan group.  what a disappointment (not in the pan group, they were fantastic).  as the day went along i became more and more disappointed, no tassa drummers, no chutney music, no live band representing trinidad, no soca artist.  i know the ccfa works hard every year to put on a show that they think the people want, but how about asking the people what they will like to see.  how about getting feedback from the people that will  attend the festival year after year.  and i can't just put the blame on the ccfa, the people of charlotte and surrounding need to speak up and let the ccfa know what you want, don't complain/vent to me because i can't do anything but write an article to put your grievances out there.  this festival is what we make it, and if we don't speak up to the powers that be, nothing will change.  

i must say, the insomniacs pan side was a wonderful touch and the new parade route was great (not to fond of the parking lot location).  big up to our very own crazy c for being a great mc, wonderful job!  congratulations to image mas camp for winning queen of the band, and lee 2 productions for the king of the band title. I'm not sure who won band of the year as that wasn't announced, but i have a pretty good idea who it was.    i encourage all of you who were dissatisfied with the festival  to contact the ccfa, you can find all their contact info on their website www.charlottecaribbeanfestival.com. Feel free to also leave a comment on the charlottetrini website.

glow charlotte

i love love love this party every year!  thunderstorm and caribbeanlimelife.com definitely stepped it up a huge notch.  a much better location and a live band with perrformers!  it was great to see that the people stuck to the theame of white (with the exception of a few hard head people...lol).  we had performances from champeon,  yankey boy,  and the band impact 2.  the highlight of the night for me is when the power went briefly and the rythym section started up, oh my lawd!!!!  if that didn't do it for you then i don't know what will. glow Charlotte has become a staple for the festival weekend and i only expect it to get bigger and better, go big or go home!

anyway i done rant and rave, tell me your opinion, leave a comment!  Don't forget to check out the photo section for pictures of all the weekend activities.