A Feast For The Sense
The West End community is once again set to host the West End Carnivale, Brisbane's biggest masquerade party and a celebration of world music, local talent, circus freaks and all things weird and wonderful.
The brainchild behind it all, and also the organiser of eco festival Island Vibe, Morgyn Quinn drew inspiration for the event from Brazilian and Caribbean tradition.
"I experienced a carnivale in Trinidad and I liked elements of the Caribbean carnivale because I'm a big fan of reggae and such. The West End Carnivale is a marriage between Caribbean and Brazilian Carnivale, superimposed on our very own vibrant West End community."
The Carnivale made its debut at the riverside grounds of the Souths Leagues Club last year and was heralded a huge success with more than 2,000 people in attendance. Plans for this year's event have been in the pipelines since January and will come to fruition this Saturday, May 15.
Running from midday to midnight, the day will feature a musical smorgasbord of more than 50 acts, including Melbourne funk band The Bamboos, and Sydneysiders Juke Baritone and the Swamp Dogs. Also making an appearance are blues and jazz sensations Mojo Juju and the Snake Oil Merchants, and Sunshine Sound System, one of New Zealand's tightest hip hop and funk outfits.
Joining these artists are local acts Laneous & the Family Yah, Dubmarine, Kingfisha, The Darky Roots, The View From Madeleine's Couch, The Woohoo Revue, Tibet To Timbuctoo, Blind Dog, The Rude, Paua, Truth Serum, LUVS, Juddah, Bessy Lou, Martini 66,Graffiti MCs and Happy Days.
DJs storming the Selecta Stage are 20,000 Leagues, Andy Dub, Apex, Basmati, Ben Osborne and Sunny Dread MC, Boxy Lucha, Cat Kid, Lao Mirador, Nick 1, Scuba D and the internationally-renowned electronic and breakbeat artist Opiuo. The Carnivale will also play host to circus, cabaret and visual performances by La Viola Vixen, Lola the Vamp, Briefs and many more. Vixen will star in a burlesque show that is expected to be bigger and better than ever, followed by the All Male Briefs who will close the festival with a burlesque show of their own.
The highlight of the West End Carnivale, however, will be the Carnivale parade, which will be led by the famed costumed dancers and percussion ensemble of Rio Rhythmics Latin Dance Academy. The parade will feature about 100 performers, including fire twirlers and roving performers. There are also rumours of unicorns.
It is tradition for Carnivale-goers to come in masked or costumed gangs' and this year's festival will offer group discounts for those who come and add to the colour. There is also compilation CDs up for grabs for the first 200 masked marauders through the gates.
"The idea of dressing up is to break down the barriers between the audience and the performers." Quinn says, "to make them feel like they're part of it."
He said Carnivale-goers can expect the same colourful market scene as last year with an outside bar plus food and craft stalls. Workshops will also be run throughout the day. Quinn believes last year's event earned the Carnivale an excellent reputation and has high hopes for a similar turnout to this year's event.
"I think the word has now spread outside of West End. Last year everything was just on paper, I was pretty amazed at how good it looked when it was built. When everyone adds their artist's input you don't really know what to expect at the start, but the end product is always a lot more beautiful than you imagined. It's definitely a very colourful and friendly event suitable for all ages."
Join Brisbane's biggest masquerade party this Saturday at Davies Park on Jane Street, West End.
THE WEST END CARNIVALE WILL KICK OFF AT MIDDAY ON SATURDAY MAY 15 AT DAVIES PARK.