MORE THAN 300 REVELLERS are expected to be winin’ their way through some St James communities on December 1 when the Orange Hill Carnival comes off.
One of the event’s three organisers, Shellyann Hinds, told WEEKEND BUZZ that the inaugural event came about after it was realised that St James did not “really have any festivities during Independence”.
“We want to make it something yearly during Independence time so we would celebrate it whenever it comes around. It’s just one band this year and we’re hoping for about 400 people,” Hinds said.
She noted that when registration for the T-shirt band started on September 15 it was slow but as the carnival neared, things were picking up.
Female revellers have a choice of four coloured bottoms – all in the national colours – to choose from and the men have the option of two coloured surf shorts.
“People from around St James are signing up, like Sion Hill, Rock Dundo, Westmoreland, Carlton, the closer ones to us. We’re starting at Standard playing field in Orange Hill and we’re going to follow the actual bus route. We’ll go up to Endeavour, Baywoods, St Silas, down to Westmoreland junction, onto Highway 2A, travelling south back to the roundabout at the bottom of Orange Hill and then back up to the playing field.
“After the jump-up we’re going to have an after-party there but we’re going to have an all-day fair there as well. People who are not interested in jumping can come down to the playing field, where we’re going to have people selling craft and other things to make it more festive and not just a carnival,” Hinds explained before encouraging everyone to come out and support the event.
She said the organisers did not seek sponsorship and they were “able to come up with our own funds to get what we had to get going”.
Two fetes have taken place to date to help offset the cost of putting the band on the road. (Green Bananas Media)
