Caribbean Carnival brings island color, culture to Hub

Yawu Miller

Long before the first brightly-costumed dancers reached Grove Hall, the sidewalks lining the Caribbean Carnival parade route were lined with spectators outfitted with lawn chairs, coolers and parasols.

In keeping with Carnival tradition, first came the trickle of politicians — a bit more numerous and significantly whiter than last year, thanks to the festival’s proximity to the September 27 preliminary election.

After the handshakes and literature drops, the crowd thickened in anticipation of the first sound trucks. As the thumping of the soca music made its way up Warren Street, a dancer with a bright red costume, bedecked with sequins, colored gauze and feathers, heralded the coming of the first band.

Carnival brought out tens of thousands of residents from Boston’s black community as well as tens of thousands of out-of-town visitors coming from the Caribbean nations and the Caribbean communities across North America.

“I’m Trinidadian,” explained New Yorker Lynette Davis, when asked why she trekked to Boston. “I enjoy Carnival. This is what we do.”

The annual carnival regularly brings crowds estimated to be in excess of 200,000 people to the Grove Hall area where spectators are treated to impressive displays of carefully designed costumes and spirited dancing.

And, while news coverage in the mainstream media is generally relegated to one photograph and a story about often unrelated crime, the event stands as one of the largest festivals in Boston.

But, as is often the case in Boston, the event is attended almost solely by people of African descent. Unlike other cities in North America, where Caribbean carnivals are promoted by local tourism boards, the city of Boston has relegated its Carnival to second-class status.

“The Canadians love Carnival,” noted Tony Preddie, who has visited the Toronto Caribbean carnival. “It’s more than just black people. It’s all-inclusive in Toronto. They don’t even say West Indian Carnival. They say it’s our Carnival.”

City Councilor Chuck Turner, along with councilors Charles Yancey and Felix Arroyo, has met with city officials over the last three years to help smooth over disputes between the Dominican, Puerto Rican and Caribbean festivals and the city departments that oversee them.

He said that relations between the festival organizers and city officials have improved. But he said the city could go much further in improving things.

“The question of the difference in attitude between Carnival here and in other cities calls attention to the continuing problems with race relations in this city,” he said.

Local organizers are given $8,000 a year to help organize their respective festivals. But they are also required to pay for permits and overtime for police officers and emergency medical technicians assigned to the events.

All of the festival organizers depend on corporate donors to help stage their events. State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson was able to secure a $50,000 appropriation for the Caribbean Carnival in the state budget.

But Turner said the city and state could donate more funding as well to the event, which brings in thousands of out-of-state visitors.

“We should talk to the Tourism Board and look at what kind of support is given to other large tourism events like First Night that bring people into the city,” he said.

Although Carnival started in downtown Boston 30 years ago, it moved to Roxbury after merchants in the downtown area pressured city officials to move the event out of the area.

Turner said he was not sure whether local residents, festival organizers and participants would want the Carnival moved back downtown.

Watching the revelers move past her viewing position in Grove Hall, Lynn DuVal Luse said she wants to see more city support for the event, but likes the location.

“I think the city needs to embrace this as one of the unique cultural experiences of Boston and celebrate this as such,” she said. “There’s nothing like this anywhere else in the city. They should encourage the entire city to come out and join us.”