After CayMAS hit the road on Saturday afternoon, one could imagine the musician Arrow’s 1983 hit song ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’ had been inspired by a Caribbean Carnival summer parade.
With temperatures well into the 90s, coupled with high humidity, onlookers and participants were sweaty and red-faced as the two large sections of the parade — separated by a mandated time delay to comply with COVID regulations — slowly made their way along the route from George Town to Seven Mile Public Beach. The parade started at approximately 1pm.
Spectators began setting up chairs and umbrellas beside West Bay Road more than an hour prior to the mas bands’ expected arrival.
By 2:30pm, people were lining the pavement in front of places such as Queen’s Court, XQ’s, Bevvy Bar and beyond.
The rules of engagement were different this year, with all parade members required to be vaccinated against COVID by the Health Services Authority, and no interaction allowed between them and anyone watching the proceedings.
RCIPS officers patrolled the road on foot, motorcycle and by car, while the flatbed trucks carrying DJs, emcees, refreshments and even portable toilets, stopped from time-to-time to allow the groups to indulge in some performance sessions.
The audiences lining the route happily cheered from where they were standing and danced along to the music.
The heat of the day was clearly taking its toll on some paraders, who tried to stay in the shade provided by the trucks, while cooling down with water.
Once the lead group reached Public Beach, the plan was to disperse so that the second group coming up behind could arrive and keep the total number of people in the area below the maximum allowed limit of 1,000.
The Soca Monarch competition and After Mas event were scheduled for the same night at Coral Beach, with gates opening at 6pm.
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