After no carnival for the past two years due to COVID, SpiceMas, Grenada’s carnival extravaganza, took center stage this August – a triumphant return of culture, pageantry, and partying. Labeled “D Return,” it embodied Grenadian’s passion, excitement, and relief that our premier cultural event would take place.

At the start of 2022, everyone was equally hopeful and hesitant  – wondering if SpiceMas would be canceled for the third year. In early spring, with COVID numbers under control, the Government tentatively decided to bring back Carnival with a looming caveat that, if COVID cases increased significantly, they could call it off at any time.

No one cared about the potential uncertainty. In Grenadian’s minds, SpiceMas was happening, and I’m reasonably confident that if it were canceled last minute for health issues, everyone would ignore the ban and party anyway. In that worst-case scenario, the pent-up demand for fun was way too high for a reasonable response.

Excitement brewed instantly, and everyone madly started preparing. So much goes on behind the scenes to make this huge celebration successful, including securing all the event spaces and staff, creating elaborate costume designs for all the masqueraders, organizing multiple local and national contests to determine who will compete in the final battles of talent for The National Carnival Queen, Groovy and Power SOCA Monarchs, Junior and Senior Calypso, Panorama (The Steel Pan Orchestra competition), and, of course, the numerous parties that surround the event.

Traditionally, weekend parties start in April, right after the kickoff event, and run every weekend through August. The parties began later this year as groups ramped up their themes and secured their preferred locations and dates. All events surrounding SpiceMas need approval from the carnival committee to take place.

If you are unfamiliar with Grenada’s raucous carnival party scene, events tend to start on Saturday evenings around 11 PM and run way past dawn. It is not unusual to see folks staggering out of venues around 10 AM the following day, hoping to sleep off the fun before returning to work on Monday. Many events advertise 10 to 10, a mostly accurate representation of the timeframe. No one arrives on time, and few leave before the final gasp at 10 AM.

For this year’s Carnival, organizers spaced out the key events over a couple of weeks, giving people breathing room between activities. Usually, the following year’s Carnival planning begins in September, just weeks after the last Carnival ends. Because of the late start for preparations, many people having less money to spend after two years of reduced or nonexistent wages, and due to health concerns, events were smaller and less extravagant this year.

But that did not matter! SpiceMas was happening, and people were ready to play Mas.

As always, the final competitions were fierce.  Scholar took the Senior Calypso crown, Cryave won Groovy Monarch and Terra D. Governor was crowned Power Soca Monarch.

Other key results included Reesa McIntosh, Miss St. George, being crowned the 2022 National Carnival Queen, 8-year-old Christian “Mothy” Niles winning the Junior Calypso Monarch title, and the dynamic Commancheros winning Panorama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, SpiceMas 2022 was exhilarating.  It brought so much hope and joy to locals and visitors alike.  And possibly the best news is that there hasn’t been a huge outbreak of new COVID cases as a result of days of close partying.

If you would like to see more images and videos from SpiceMas 2022, check out the SpiceMas Facebook page.

See you next year at an even bigger and better SpiceMas 2023!