For the second year running, there will be no June/July Carnival
In effect, Vincymas 2021 has been officially cancelled.
So said Carlos James, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture, in response to a question as per whether Vincymas would be held this year, posed by Parliamentary Representative for South Leeward Nigel Stephenson during last Tuesday’s sitting of the House of Assembly.
James told the House that prior to the initial explosive eruption of the La Soufrière volcano on April 9, discussions had been ongoing and they centred on variations of Vincymas 2021 – i.e. format and events primarily.
Since the events precipitated by the eruption of La Soufrière April 9 and the situation that a large percent of persons here have not taken the COVID-19 vaccine, James said that it was highly unlikely that there will be a Vincymas 2021, during the June/July timeframe.
James’s reference to the situation regarding the acceptance of the vaccine could well have been in response to the Prime Minister’s condition as he laid out in his Heroes Day Address (March 14, 2021), to wit, “I say, we will have carnival in July if as we come up to the month of May that I see that we have reached a level where we can say that we have 70, 80% of the above 18 population, and maybe it may go down to 16, because the circumstances today are different to the circumstances last year. We did not have the vaccine last year around Carnival.”
Vincymas 2020 was cancelled following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic here. The first case was recorded in March 2020 and health officials recommended a number of measures be taken to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, including the cancellation of the annual carnival, to which the Carnival development Corporation agreed.
However, even after having pointing to an official cancellation, the Culture Minister said he remained optimistic that something can take place later this year, virtually or otherwise, with the focus on rebuilding.
Discussion on the matter was not closed, but for now Carnival in June/July was off the table, the Minister said.
Source :The Vincentian