The St Lucian government plans to stage a physical carnival - dubbed ‘The Vaxxed Mas’ - in 2022 making carnival enthusiasts excited about the prospect. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Caribbean in March 2020, regional carnival celebrations have stopped.
Trinidad and Tobago's street festival, the region’s largest and best known, managed its 2020 Carnival just before the country locked down. Its 2021 celebrations were cancelled, however, despite the efforts of soca artistes, who did their best to keep the carnival spirit alive with new, pandemic-relevant releases. Nevertheless, musicians and other creatives, heavily dependent on carnival for income, suffered.
St Lucia is the first of the regional carnivals to announce its intent to proceed as normal in July, though other islands have hinted at the possibility. St Lucia's minister of culture, Ernest Hilaire, insisted to take part in the festivities, all patrons and service providers must be fully vaccinated. “We have to ensure that we preserve the health of St Lucia while creating an economic activity for our people to benefit from,” he said.
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