31 kings and queens participated in the Carnival King and Queen Contest on Saturday at the Roger’s Stadium. That was the most entries ever and it didn’t help that the show which was supposed to start at 7 pm – didn’t actually start until 9 pm. But the show did go on without incident and what a show it was. Our 7News team of Keith Swift and Codie Noralez was there from the start until it finished after midnight. Here’s the story.

Keith Swift Reporting,
It was a crowded field of 33 contenders – 12 kings and 21 queens and there was an even more crowded field of onlookers in the bleachers and on the ground. It was a celebration where the costumes were elaborate and the competition was fierce.

First up were the juniors –specifically Pickstock’s Queens Moya and Ottley and King Obama head to head against Jump Street Posse’s two queens and one king.

Gareth Gill, Bandleader - Pickstock Carnival Band
“She is Queen Moya, he is King Obama and Queen Ottley. King Obama separates fight and enemies and things against peace and tranquillity and come together as one and Queen Ottley she pleas so that destruction and all those things may not happen.”

Keith Swift,
“Who designed these costumes?”

Gareth Gill,
“All the costumes were designed by me but we have Queen Ottley, she does the drawing and the King Obama and Queen Moya, their parents come in everyday and we work towards these costumes so that they could come out excellent.”

Marina Wellcome, Bandleader - Jump Street Posse
“We are coming three the hard way, it is all about fire, hurricane, and death slash child molestation. We are focusing on what’s going on in Belize, we’re dealing in reality. It is not all about winning, it is the message you send out here and the justice that you get back.”

Keith Swift,
“You were saying things bad but you have two queens and a king.”

Marina Wellcome,
“The money is coming out of my pocket. If you notice I don’t have any jewellery on, it is all at the pawn shop.”

And then there were the Mahogany and Sunshine Masqueradors and Black Pearl.

Marilyn Young, Sunshine Masqueradors
“The two costumes represent Belize because from we are small we do history about the Maya sun god and we all know that Belize is 8,867 square miles and we know our national symbols. So we are only portraying it so Belizeans could be aware and not to forget our nationalities.”

Kendra Bulwer, Black Pearl
“Black Pearl has wonderful colours this year. We have decided to depict fire versus water for our junior band this year. As you can see our king and queen are beautifully dressed in red, fiery red and orange which represents the fire and then we have the water because without water the fire cannot out.”

Nadia Avila, Bandleader – Mahogany Masqueradors
“Two queens and one king. The first king is barriseno, he is the ruler of the land and when he listens to his people good things come to the country. That is red white and blue and barri and seno are from the two different parties, blue and red and he is to protect. The second I have is the queen of conservation, recycle what you have and take care of what you have. The third one is preservation. So we have protection, conservation, and preservation.”

Keith Swift,
“What kind of work went into preparing these costumes?”

Nadia Avila,
“Crazy work. Every night you stay up until three or four in the morning. I didn’t even sleep today.”

Keith Swift,
“Why do you do it?”

Nadia Avila,
“Because it is something that you love. I love it.”

And that love paid off, Nadia Avila’s two queens and one king went on to dominate the competition – winning the junior king, the junior queen, and second place in the junior queen contest. Now for senior bands there six; 8 senior kings and 12 queens in the race.

Justin Gill, Black Pearl Carnival Band
“I am none other than the light of the world, the protector of Splindora.”

Black Pearl Queen,
“I represent Mystic. My costume as you can see, it is white, the colour is white and this is Mystic Dawn representing for Black Pearl.”

Selvin Encalada, Ladyville Freedom Masqueradors
“I am a dance prince that cast a spell on the family and we have the freedom butterfly that is going to expel the spell.”

Freedom Butterfly, Ladyville Freedom Masqueradors
“I am the beautiful butterfly of Freedom Masqueradors and when I spread my wings I will show peace, hope, and love over that evil butterfly over there.”

It was also the debut for Soca Massive.

Ebony Burke, Soca Massive
“I am queen independence representing Belize, a young strong free nation at last since 1981 and we are portraying the two major disasters that Belize has, hurricanes, fire, and flood. I am queen independence because after all that we are still standing; young, free, Belize sweet Belize.”

Jesus Caceres, Soca Massive
“I am portraying Hurricane Keith, aka Rain Dancer. It is the hurricane that hit in October 2001 in Belize.”

Sophie Smith, Soca Massive
“This year our group is representing natural disasters that have affected Belize over the years and two of them are fire and hurricane so I am representing the fire.”

Sophie ultimately danced her way to the number one spot and won the title of senior queen. Jam Jam placed second in senior king and third in senior queen.

Vanessa Wagner, Jam Jam/3rd Senior Queen
“I am portraying Adobe the African Goddess."

Jason Belisle, Jam Jam/2nd Place in Senior King
“I am portraying Thatanka –that’s the Mayan Indian war chief.”

Alma Gabourel, Band Leader – Jam Jam
“I am queen Leilah representing the Creoles. You know the Creoles are descendants from the Europeans and the African slaves and we have different cultures. One of our tradition is homemade wines and desserts and we are known for our rice and beans, chicken and salad and plantains. We have three sections; Creole, Africans, and Mayan Indians.”

And then there was Mother Nature’s Creations.

Carla Flowers, Bandleader - Mother Nature’s Creation
“Mother Nature has three queens and two kings. Five because of the theme this year. The theme is Belizean myth, spirit power.”

One of those kings was carnival veteran Leroy Green who won the senior king.

Leroy Green, Winner – Carnival King
“I had stopped for about nine years and then last year Mother Nature’s asked me to do it again. I did and I came second and so this year they decided they wanted me to do it but this is my last year.”

Keith Swift,
“So you’ll go out with a bang?”

Leroy Green,
“Yes of course.”

And a bang he did –clinching the victory as senior king. And win lose or draw -the bands say they invested time and thousands of dollars into the king and queen because it doesn’t get any bigger than this.

Misty Williams, Eternity Carnival Band
“It sets you up, that is the beginning of it. Carnival is next week Saturday and you want to come out with a bang from the beginning and then show what will happen next week Saturday.”

Marina Wellcome,
“I look forward to king and queen more than I do for the road march. The most money goes into the king and queen costumes because it is very elaborate, you gotta go like when you see the costume you know exactly what it is, you don’t have to be asking what’s that; the minute you look at it you know exactly what it is and that is very important to me.”

Alma Gabourel,
“I think the King and Queen is more important than the road march because of the big costumes and this will eventually tell what happens in the road march because usually the one that wins the king and queen usually takes the road march.”

To recap the winners: the Mahogany Masqueradors won the junior queen and king contests. The senior king was won by Mother Nature’s Creation. And Soca Massive won the senior queen. Next on the carnival calendar are the senior mas camps on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. You can stay tuned to seven news for coverage of those events.