April 26, 2007 –- All of them got happy, half of them got crazy, and most of them got wet, but about 1,500 revelers of all stripes – students, toddlers, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, Crucians – got out to tramp in J'ouvert 2007.
This year had a welcome twist. The bands started almost on time.
And it had an unwelcome twist: rain. But as they say, "Rain Don't Stop de Carnival."
Some folks dodged into nearby shelter: the One Stop grocery overhang, the Seaborne Airlines terminal, Frenchtown Plaza or the Wilmoth Blyden ferry terminal. Lots of umbrellas sprang up, adding a bit more color to the festive scene.
Just about the time the rain was most aggressive, Jam Band came down the road. Forgotten were shelters and umbrellas; everybody charged out into the road for their beloved band. Their tramping simply increased the beat as they jumped down the road, not a slogging step to be seen.
The event brought out at least one new entrepreneur. Nestled under a white tent by the ferry terminal, Juanita Williams and her small family were selling flying fish, salmon balls, tuna fish sandwiches, and tamarind, carrot and passion fruit juices.
"We've been here since about 4:30 this morning," said Williams. Though there were no takers at the 6:30 hour, she expected things to look up. At the early hour, the drink stands, mostly set up in pickup truck beds, were doing the most business, largely from folks still partying from the night before.
A group of partyers was gathered outside La Petite Fenetre in Frenchtown for an early start at about 5:30 a.m. Proprietor Henry Richardson said he opened about 5 a.m. "And people were here then," he laughed.
There were the usual straw hats, one or two jester's hats, but somehow, little pink-and-white rabbit ears looked to be this year's headgear of choice, as strapping young men danced down the waterfront with their ears flopping along.
The early morning event is the great equalizer. The waterfront was overflowing Thursday with sales clerks, students, bankers, politicians, musicians and community leaders.
They were dressed, or in some cases, hardly dressed, in most anything from shredded jeans to short shorts, waving most anything overhead: towels, flags and at least one cowbell. Some wore parade body paint, some were in their parade costumes.
J'ouvert, the massive morning party, is generally agreed to have started in Trinidad. The word, from the French "jour" and "ouvrir," roughly translates to "day open."
Traditionally, J'ouvert opens the first day of Trinidad's carnival. Folklorist Ray Allen, of Brooklyn College, says it evolved from 19th century Canboulay festivals, the nighttime celebrations where ex-slaves gathered to masquerade, sing and dance in commemoration of their emancipation.
When the tradition was incorporated into Trinidad's pre-Lent carnival, J'ouvert became an arena for African-derived percussion, satire and costuming.
The event is big for transplanted Caribbeans living in New York. It's celebrated in the annual Labor Day parade and the Notting Hill Carnival in London, as well as most other Caribbean islands.
St. Croix partyers were still piling out of aircraft at the Seaborne Airlines terminal Thursday, lugging costumes, food and a spirit of fun. "Come on," one teenager was heard yelling at his pals. "They've started. The party is now."
And party they did, a long serpentine band of color and energy as far as the eye could see tramping behind Jam Band, P'your Passion, Top News, and other bands. Everyone was still going strong at 9 a.m., perhaps energized by Mother Nature's futile attempts to throw a wet towel over the fun.
Rain delayed the opening of Carnival Village, "Bolo's Music Studio," from Monday to Tuesday evening. Wednesday's Cultural Fair had glorious clear skies. It's chancy for the rest of the week, as the territory celebrates its 55th Carnival.
Weather Underground predicts showers for the next few days. The Children's Parade starts at 10 a.m. Friday from Market Square, and the Adults' Parade starts the same time Saturday from the Western Cemetery.
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