Carnival 2024 Schedule features 11 Local events, Soca RUmble is back!

The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) released the Carnival 2024 schedule of events which, including the pre-Carnival events, will feature 28 days of “fettin”. The official part of the schedule will run from April 18 with the opening of Carnival Village to May 5 with the burning of King Momo. “We are sending an invitation to bacchanalists around the world to ‘Come, Celebrate Life’ with bacchanalists on the friendly island,” the SCDF said.

President of the SCDF Edwardo Radjouki said the schedule features various new shows, local as well as international, that are sure to excite Carnival lovers. He is particularly happy to feature more local shows that ever on the schedule which he believes is how Carnival should be featured every year.

“It starts and ends with our own. We have to celebrate and export our culture first. Everything else is just complimentary. Every few years we get a major injection of new shows built on new ideas that keeps Carnival growing. We have a number of persons who decided to try their hand at shows this year and we are eager to see what they have in store for the public,” he said.

The schedule features five jump-ups including the return of the “Fete to Fitness” around town jump-up, four Road to Carnival events, eleven local events, five international concerts, three queen pageants including the first ever SXM Carnival Caribbean Queen Pageant and three parades.

Radjouki explained that each event will be rolled out and marketed from now and straight on to Carnival 2024. He mentioned the inclusion of four new international shows; Jouvert Jump-Off, Afro Riddimz International Concert, a UV Neon Glow Fete and an event entitled Bacchanal Flag Fete International Mash-Up.

Missing from the schedule this year is Night of the Hit Makers, Caribbean Flag Fest and Bacchanal Sunday. All of those promoters either indicated to SCDF that they would not host a show this year or in some cases missed the deadline to express interest in hosting a show.

Also making a notable return to the Carnival schedule is Soca Rumble, the popular event that focuses exclusively on local Soca music in the groovy and power genre. “The return of Soca Rumble has all musical artists buzzing. The show has done a lot over the years for the growth and sustainability for local soca music and artists. It is great to see it back on the schedule,” Radjouki said.

Radjouki explained what’s next in the process: “Now we have to continue and finalise our discussions with our corporate sponsors who make Carnival possible. There will also be several meetings held with emergency services and other stakeholders. With the release of the schedule, the organization of the various shows will commence, season pass sales will open in December. This is the time when the real work takes place right down to April.”

He reminded that general registration is still open for the various aspects of Carnival, with the exception of international shows which closed on July 1. Persons interested in booths, pageants, parades, calypso shows, bands and the Road March competition can still register via the link: https://sxmcarnival.bio.link

“Carnival 2024 will feature some changes which is good for the festival every few years. We will share much more information about all of the events as the weeks and months go by. As usual the public can expect the SCDF to do its utmost and go over board to present an unforgettable Carnival season,” Radjouki concluded