SpiceMas Review; Fetes, Pricing and Costume and Fraud?!
Last year, I did Cropover and this year I decided to do Grenada. By August 2018 I knew that it would be my next Caribbean carnival because it is so different and also I liked the variety of mas/jouvert (you have jabjab- Monday morning, Monday night mas, "pretty mas" Monday and Tuesday aka costumes).
Rather than do a Cropover-Spice Mas combination (which is highly popular), to save money and explore another Island I decided to do a multi-centre trip and book 5 nights in St Lucia and then 7 nights in Grenada. I flew from London-St Lucia, St Lucia-Grenada and Grenada-London via St Lucia all via British Airways. They offer many multi centre flights within the Caribbean, however you may also wish to book via Caribbean airlines e.g. LIAT (take your chances!) or SVG air. I booked the flights and air b n b s in both locations in November/December 2018. Again, the ideal time to book for a carnival abroad is 6-10 months in advance, personally I prefer 10 to secure accommodation and flights for a good price.
Prior to booking, one can look at this calendar to get the dates of Spice Mas 2019 or use google as the time period for when these carnivals take place does not change. For example, the 1st Monday in August is Kadooment Day- the day of the costume parade in Barbados and Antigua carnival.
FETES
I chose fetes off looking at Instagram and seeing what they were like last year as well as previous fete lists e.g. this one to gauge when the fetes would be occurring and prices. In contrast to Barbados, fetes (and everything tbh) was cheaper. All of the fetes were 90% Grenadian soca- be wary! This sort of surprised me, but whilst riding on minibuses and listening to mixes like this and this I became familiar with the music and it grew on me a lot! It is very distinctive- otherwise soca played included St Vincent, Bajan, St Lucian and I'm pleased to see they played 3 or 4 afrobeat songs at each fete I went to. I started buying tickets around April.
SAVVI - the Cooler Fete Edition Friday 9th August $50 4pm-10pm
This was by the beach and as the name states it was a cooler party i.e you can bring your own drinks. Unlike last year, I bought a mini cooler bag with 4 drinks to last me the night. I also liked that they served food- which was a lamb soup and oil down (national dish) I had both obviously. You could also go back for more. The venue was nice and set on a beach, they had a cup , wristband and insect repellent (thankfully!) on entry. It was a great warm up fete and started to get lively about 7.30. Luckily I got there (Dr Groom's beach) by bus- the bus driver went off route for an extra 2.50 XCD and dropped me right there.
Summercrew Bikini Cruise Catamaran #1 Vvip Saturday 10th August $83 12pm-5pm
I had a lot of fun at this event, it was a drinks inclusive boat party. The DJ was good and played a variety of music, the availability of drinks was excellent. The after party called Binge at a beach was included in the ticket price. However, a few things went wrong- we left 90 minutes late, no food was served on the boat and we were docked at the place we left INSTEAD of the location of the after party. This meant we each had to pay 5 XCD to go to the venue we were supposed to be at and get lunch there. Quite inconvenient, and to be honest I had a costume to collect and was tired so I left about 6.
Sunny Side Up Grenada Premium Drinks Inclusive Event Sunday 11th August $85 4-10.30pm
I arrived here at 6.30 and the party was still warming up. I immediately got food as I knew the queue would just get longer and longer (it did, the food was free and the portions were huge!). The DJ was excellent and played all types of soca and 2019 soca. The venue was amazing and it was a lovely beach house with a pool. Upon entry you were given a wristband and a handy clip on cup so you could remain hands free if you wished. It was drinks inclusive and a variety of drinks including cocktails was available. This fete exceeded my expectations.
All of the above tickets can be purchased on https://go2fete.com/- the prices quoted are early bird prices.
Monday morning 4am-(about 10am) Jouvert, St George's, FREE
You can get a water taxi from the bus terminal to jouvert for 5-10XCD one way- there are trucks, people with oil, young, old, food, drinks and sound systems. Be prepared to see some things you have never seen before- people covered in black oil with wigs, prams, dolls, a laptop, eels , a snake etc. It's crazy fun. Honestly, there is no point in my opinion paying for a band here, just turn up with a good attitude and prepared to get oiled up from head to toe. Buses run from the bus terminal, you may have to pay 3 or 5XCD rather than the usual 2.50 as it is a bank holiday.
Monday "pretty mas" 1pm-(about 7pm) St George's
Here I met my band (Carnival Xtascy), at 1pm. We did not leave till 3.30pm , the security and truck with music did not turn up till about 2/2.30pm. Grenanda time is really something! I'm not sure how I felt about this event, I was glad for the food lol but in a way I felt I could have spent this time sleeping. I had to leave at 5.30 to get home to get changed for Monday night mas. This is when you wear Mondaywear which you get included with your band - it is usually a bodysuit, like this.
Monday night mas, 7pm-(2/3am) St George's Amazing Colours £30+*
There are a variety of Monday night mas bands e.g. Carib and Flow. The popular choice was Amazing Colors and I can see why. The Monday night mas bands do not offer their packages (which include drinks, a t shirt, glowstick, glow in the dark glasses and/or headbands) till late July/early August. Often, you just turn up and pay in cash. You could order with this band online and pick it up. I chose to just pick up a package the day I arrived- they were open daily in Esplanade mall from about 10am-8pm. I was in and out and chose the t shirt I wanted , they told me when to meet. But remember Grenadian time? Due to traffic, I did not arrive till 8pm, due to poor organisation from other bands we left at 9.30pm. I left about 1.30 am as I was SO tired but it was an amazing experience. There are hundreds in this band, so be prepared to find getting a drink difficult or only getting access to one drink in this time.
Tuesday Mas, 12pm(-late) St George's, Carnival Xtascy $280+
The meeting time was 12, I arrived at 2, we left at 3.30 :/ . At least, I was able to get photos of my costume and a few drinks and some shade. Grenada is extremely hot and was easily 32/34 degrees this day. The DJ was great, the vibes was great, lunch was good and it was a popular band- this is its 3rd year. My costume was not without its difficulties however, some gems fell off, my costume collection date was changed to Saturday instead of Wednesday and I was given an S bottoms instead of a M. However, my section leader was great, she was very responsive, set up a whatsapp group and exchanged my bottoms within 5 minutes when I went there on Sunday. I think a band needs 5-10 years to go through trial and error to get things right. This band will get better with time, I think. Other great bands I saw were AGA and Summercrew, there are more if you use google. Unfortunately, in TWO other bands, some people did not get costumes at all or got costumes that they did not pay for or a costume with parts missing. I cannot imagine paying £400-£500 and getting nothing. It is very difficult to prevent this but I try to;
A) Google bands before purchasing. Find blogs that have reviewed them or check out comments on FB
B) Go on Instagram and check the quality of their costumes the previous year. Were there dramas? Did people comment negatively or positively?
C) Go on youtube and search...does the band look lively/fun/organised etc
Tips;
Rather than do a Cropover-Spice Mas combination (which is highly popular), to save money and explore another Island I decided to do a multi-centre trip and book 5 nights in St Lucia and then 7 nights in Grenada. I flew from London-St Lucia, St Lucia-Grenada and Grenada-London via St Lucia all via British Airways. They offer many multi centre flights within the Caribbean, however you may also wish to book via Caribbean airlines e.g. LIAT (take your chances!) or SVG air. I booked the flights and air b n b s in both locations in November/December 2018. Again, the ideal time to book for a carnival abroad is 6-10 months in advance, personally I prefer 10 to secure accommodation and flights for a good price.
Prior to booking, one can look at this calendar to get the dates of Spice Mas 2019 or use google as the time period for when these carnivals take place does not change. For example, the 1st Monday in August is Kadooment Day- the day of the costume parade in Barbados and Antigua carnival.
FETES
I chose fetes off looking at Instagram and seeing what they were like last year as well as previous fete lists e.g. this one to gauge when the fetes would be occurring and prices. In contrast to Barbados, fetes (and everything tbh) was cheaper. All of the fetes were 90% Grenadian soca- be wary! This sort of surprised me, but whilst riding on minibuses and listening to mixes like this and this I became familiar with the music and it grew on me a lot! It is very distinctive- otherwise soca played included St Vincent, Bajan, St Lucian and I'm pleased to see they played 3 or 4 afrobeat songs at each fete I went to. I started buying tickets around April.
SAVVI - the Cooler Fete Edition Friday 9th August $50 4pm-10pm
This was by the beach and as the name states it was a cooler party i.e you can bring your own drinks. Unlike last year, I bought a mini cooler bag with 4 drinks to last me the night. I also liked that they served food- which was a lamb soup and oil down (national dish) I had both obviously. You could also go back for more. The venue was nice and set on a beach, they had a cup , wristband and insect repellent (thankfully!) on entry. It was a great warm up fete and started to get lively about 7.30. Luckily I got there (Dr Groom's beach) by bus- the bus driver went off route for an extra 2.50 XCD and dropped me right there.
Summercrew Bikini Cruise Catamaran #1 Vvip Saturday 10th August $83 12pm-5pm
I had a lot of fun at this event, it was a drinks inclusive boat party. The DJ was good and played a variety of music, the availability of drinks was excellent. The after party called Binge at a beach was included in the ticket price. However, a few things went wrong- we left 90 minutes late, no food was served on the boat and we were docked at the place we left INSTEAD of the location of the after party. This meant we each had to pay 5 XCD to go to the venue we were supposed to be at and get lunch there. Quite inconvenient, and to be honest I had a costume to collect and was tired so I left about 6.
Sunny Side Up Grenada Premium Drinks Inclusive Event Sunday 11th August $85 4-10.30pm
I arrived here at 6.30 and the party was still warming up. I immediately got food as I knew the queue would just get longer and longer (it did, the food was free and the portions were huge!). The DJ was excellent and played all types of soca and 2019 soca. The venue was amazing and it was a lovely beach house with a pool. Upon entry you were given a wristband and a handy clip on cup so you could remain hands free if you wished. It was drinks inclusive and a variety of drinks including cocktails was available. This fete exceeded my expectations.
All of the above tickets can be purchased on https://go2fete.com/- the prices quoted are early bird prices.
Monday morning 4am-(about 10am) Jouvert, St George's, FREE
You can get a water taxi from the bus terminal to jouvert for 5-10XCD one way- there are trucks, people with oil, young, old, food, drinks and sound systems. Be prepared to see some things you have never seen before- people covered in black oil with wigs, prams, dolls, a laptop, eels , a snake etc. It's crazy fun. Honestly, there is no point in my opinion paying for a band here, just turn up with a good attitude and prepared to get oiled up from head to toe. Buses run from the bus terminal, you may have to pay 3 or 5XCD rather than the usual 2.50 as it is a bank holiday.
Monday "pretty mas" 1pm-(about 7pm) St George's
Here I met my band (Carnival Xtascy), at 1pm. We did not leave till 3.30pm , the security and truck with music did not turn up till about 2/2.30pm. Grenanda time is really something! I'm not sure how I felt about this event, I was glad for the food lol but in a way I felt I could have spent this time sleeping. I had to leave at 5.30 to get home to get changed for Monday night mas. This is when you wear Mondaywear which you get included with your band - it is usually a bodysuit, like this.
Monday night mas, 7pm-(2/3am) St George's Amazing Colours £30+*
There are a variety of Monday night mas bands e.g. Carib and Flow. The popular choice was Amazing Colors and I can see why. The Monday night mas bands do not offer their packages (which include drinks, a t shirt, glowstick, glow in the dark glasses and/or headbands) till late July/early August. Often, you just turn up and pay in cash. You could order with this band online and pick it up. I chose to just pick up a package the day I arrived- they were open daily in Esplanade mall from about 10am-8pm. I was in and out and chose the t shirt I wanted , they told me when to meet. But remember Grenadian time? Due to traffic, I did not arrive till 8pm, due to poor organisation from other bands we left at 9.30pm. I left about 1.30 am as I was SO tired but it was an amazing experience. There are hundreds in this band, so be prepared to find getting a drink difficult or only getting access to one drink in this time.
Tuesday Mas, 12pm(-late) St George's, Carnival Xtascy $280+
The meeting time was 12, I arrived at 2, we left at 3.30 :/ . At least, I was able to get photos of my costume and a few drinks and some shade. Grenada is extremely hot and was easily 32/34 degrees this day. The DJ was great, the vibes was great, lunch was good and it was a popular band- this is its 3rd year. My costume was not without its difficulties however, some gems fell off, my costume collection date was changed to Saturday instead of Wednesday and I was given an S bottoms instead of a M. However, my section leader was great, she was very responsive, set up a whatsapp group and exchanged my bottoms within 5 minutes when I went there on Sunday. I think a band needs 5-10 years to go through trial and error to get things right. This band will get better with time, I think. Other great bands I saw were AGA and Summercrew, there are more if you use google. Unfortunately, in TWO other bands, some people did not get costumes at all or got costumes that they did not pay for or a costume with parts missing. I cannot imagine paying £400-£500 and getting nothing. It is very difficult to prevent this but I try to;
A) Google bands before purchasing. Find blogs that have reviewed them or check out comments on FB
B) Go on Instagram and check the quality of their costumes the previous year. Were there dramas? Did people comment negatively or positively?
C) Go on youtube and search...does the band look lively/fun/organised etc
Tips;
- Listen to some soca from Grenada BEFORE going
- Bring suncream it is HOT
- Bring insect repellents with a MINIMUM 50% DEET- it is rainy season and mosquitos are about day and night
- Try to sightsee whilst you are here (I visited Fort George, the Carenage, Grand Anse Beach and Annadale Waterfalls)- all were free to enter when I went. I also accessed these places by bus.
- Bring XCD currency, try to avoid US dollars you will lose out.
- Carnival is expensive- start saving early. People have already started booking hotels for Spice Mas 2020 and I can see the carnival becoming more popular, especially as it is over 2 days.
- Ask for the food court above the supermarket near St George's bus terminal- cheap, local food.
- Try to stay centrally near Grand Anse- this can save you money in terms of bus and taxi and also you could even walk to some events (i.e. afternoon/evening events).
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