THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE of Island Mas 2015 must take a bow. The music, food, decor and ambience, all brought untold pleasure to the throngs of people who attended the event held at the beautiful grounds of George Washington House on the penultimate day of the Crop Over season.
The hard work by the committee from over the past 11 months was to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of their patrons.
Non-stop music was provided by King Bubba, Don Trent, Hypasounds, Mikey, Porgie & Murda, who doubled as Leadpipe & Saddis, and iWeb, plusDJs, Alvin Soca Superman Toppin, Salt, Penthouse and Alicia d Dutchess (Trinidad).
The DJs dropped tunes from Crop Over 2014 and 2015 and Lil Rick had a whole segment for himself as his music was a set.
The Trinidad family wasn’t excluded, with Farmer Nappy, Machel, Benjai and Destra getting heavy rotation.
The “wuk up stop” and “party zone” was ringed by tents that provided tables for patrons and also housed the drinks bar. Extra libation was provided by sno-cone vendors with a difference – you could get yours with some premium liquor.
The food stations were away from the drinks bar, which allowed patrons to get in a bit of exercise to work off the delicious fare provided throughout the day.
As it was a breakfast/lunch/brunch event from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., I will give the Island Mas team some leeway for the long wait for food. If you wanted hot, fresh fare, that means some food had to be prepared on the spot. The soup and fishcakes were mouth-watering.
A massage tent was provided to ease the aches and pains of the exuberant dancers and two gigantic fans blew water onto patrons to cool down those who had too much waistline energy.
Richard Rollocks, one of the committee members behind the event, said they couldn’t have done eight years of Island Mas without the patrons.
“Every year I am pleasantly surprised at the growing numbers. We have also seen an increase in visitors from Jamaica, Canada, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad and so on.
“TicketPal has made sure that those sales are on point.”
Clarke said that while the venues were always between the Barbados Museum and the present location, patrons are in for a treat with a new venue next year. He also said there will be a New Year’s Day breakfast party.
As the evening got later, the more people got looser. When we leeft at 3:30 p.m., an hour after the end time, the fashionably dressed men and women showed no signs of fatigue as they continue to wine and wuk up with strangers on their left and on their right.
