Real ‘yaad’ vibes at Yard Mas

For 22-year-old University of the West Indies student Lonette Samuels, affording a carnival costume was out of her reach until a friend loaned her part of her partner money to achieve her dream. Jumping with Yard Mas meant that she had to get up early for her hair and make-up appointments before heading to the National Stadium to lead out with the rest of the revellers in the morning.

“You know how many years me a wait fi deh right yah so! This couldn’t miss me this year!” Samuels told The Gleaner.

Samuels was just one of many who came out to enjoy the day filled with music, merriment, movement and, of course, lots of libation with Yard Mas Carnival. By mid-afternoon, truck number four switched to dancehall, and immediately the revellers were ready for it. Kotch and Tip Pon You Toe were just some of the songs with instructions aimed at the fairer sex for them to get on bad. With Matterhorn’s Dutty Wine, the selector warned the agile females to remember that swinging their heads may lead to their wigs being dislodged, so they should proceed with caution.

Along the top of Mountain View Avenue, true integration was at play as a Chinese national decided to join in the fun and started whining behind a reveller. They were so animated that a man with a hose decided they needed cooling down and soaked them thoroughly, which they totally enjoyed. For the Pepsi Crew on the road doing promotions, they had a winning marketing strategy of asking young couples in costumes to whine down low for them and afterwards were rewarded with bottles of the soda.

It was also a good day to be an entrepreneur with an opportunistic spirit, as rags, flags and fans were hot commodities all day. Ann Corrudus, a vendor from Cassava Piece in St Andrew, was ready with the mini hat umbrellas in the colours of the Jamaican flag, selling for a cool $1,000 each. Business, she said, was brisk.

“Whole heap a people never prepared fi dis yah sun at all, so me just supply what dem need, especially the dolly dem who wear the heap of make-up. A dem buy up the goods, so me happy fi dat,” Corrudus told The Gleaner.

FIRST CARNIVAL

Straight out of Suriname, Josie Karg was excited to be jumping in her first-ever carnival.

“I used to see it in pictures and videos of the people just having pure fun and frolicking in the middle of the road all day, and I said that one day I was going to be a part of that. I love Jamaica so much. This is my second time visiting the island, and everything about Jamaica is just sweet. The food, the people and the music. This is my happy place,” an excited Karg said.

When the band got to Trafalgar Road, along the stretch where Campari held their street festival, bikers and classic car owners were out and stunting as they showed off the machines to impress the ladies who walked by. In addition to a two-storey view post for those who came to drink and watch all afternoon, they also brought out their stilt walkers in full red, who were engaged with the revellers as they gyrated to Arch You Back, Temper Wine and Live the Life. They were in direct contrast to the Ekklefia Bible Fellowship group, who were busy handing out water to replenish the body as well as the spirit.

As the revellers surged ahead, at the very back were the cleaners tasked to restore the roadways to their former glory in terms of cleanliness. For 31-year-old Tony Perkins, this is his fifth year on the crew, and he enjoys the money as well as the work, as every year he meets all kinds of people, local and overseas.

“They don’t look down on me. In fact, they big me up, bring me a drink and sometimes leave a tip. I like working with Yard Mas because a dem have the real yard vibe,” Perkins declared.

nicola.cunningham@gleanerjm.com