Parking My Jumbo - King of Carnival

The carnival event that happens every year at the Queen's Park Savannah, had its venue at the Hasely Crawford stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was the parade of the Kings and Queens preliminaries, and if you had the threshold to sit through for five hours, forty odd costumes crossed the stage following a path that looked like the figure eight. They were all vying for the King and Queen title 2007.

Designers went all out to nudge a few extra points by mounting pyrotechnics into the frames of their costumes. At the edge of the stage you can see the King or Queen creeping up surrounded by their supporters. Then there is a fight check and the first sign is triggered with some sort of illumination beneath the costume to give an ambiance . Popular lights are florescent purple or red.


The Trinidadian audience knows very well what is planned next and It is the music from a special score to give the King a dramatic theatrical entrance. This may be the echoing sounds from the jungle of Africa or the waves crashing at Maracas, no matter the concepts, the purpose is to thicken the air with anticipation. Something is about to happen whether or not the masquerader can reach the centre of the stage.

The stage lights are dimmed and the music drastically switches to a popular Soca tune igniting, stage lights and the fever for the masquerader to play himself in majestic glory, aided by the special effects such as shooting confetti, smoke or finally morphing into a different costume altogether.

And what would it be the show without controversy or a mishap like masqueraders who are just incapable of completely turning it around because of its size. The wind is also a factor and have caused costumes to collapse on stage, or completely exhausting a masquerader who was trying to fight against it. So enough said, this video clip explains it all.....year after year after year. Place close attention to the commentary.