St. Thomas Carnival Adult’s Parade.

St. Thomas Carnival Adult’s Parade.

St. Thomas Carnival Adult’s Parade.

St. Thomas Carnival Adult’s Parade.

The St. Thomas Carnival Adult’s Parade was an all-day fun filled event that had live entertainment that began from 10:00am and ended at 7:00pm. It was held outside the Emancipation Garden Post Office in Downtown Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.

It was a combination of live performances of popular calypso bands, colorful carnival troupes, twirling majorettes, reigning queens and steel pan orchestras. Oh yes! The parade was filled with lots of excitement and thousands of spectators lined the streets to watch the festivities!

The high spirited and competitive event kicked off with the Grand Marshall Dale Benjamin, who gave a brief speech before continuing down the parade route. Dressed in elegant attire and beautiful smiles were the 2015 St. Thomas Carnival Queen Derisa Greaves and Court Cequoya George, Kandysee Leonard, Abyissinia Hodge, Jahkeema Petersen and Monique Thomas. Then the 2015 St. Thomas Calypso Monarch Jalen “King Yellow Man” Fredericks entered the route with his recorded song playing in the background.

There were many dance and musical performances throughout the parade. However, among my favorites were the carnival troupes and floupes.

The troupes wore bright, sparkling costumes with matching footwear. They were adorned with elaborate feathered head pieces with a jeweled crown that dazzled in the light of the sun. Troupe leaders wore large oversize costumes that were highly decorative and filled with colorful feathers.

Although, all of the carnival troupes and floupes moved with perfection and executed each dance step with unified precision, there were some whose performance was exceptional. They were the Infernos “A Mythical Journey” with the Venomous Poizon Band, St. Thomas Tropical Masqueraders with the Versatile Band, Hugga Bunch “The Tribe Has Spoken” with Volume Band and Elskoe & Associates “Virgin Islands Beauties” with the band Cool Session Brass.

Eventually, the Traditional Indians came down the route. Annually, this is the last performance and it is symbolic of the end of the St. Thomas Adult’s Parade. Although, the parade had just finished, the festivities were not over yet!

Carnival goers gathered around the waterfront on the Charlotte Amalie Harbor to watch the fireworks show! It was spectacular. There were colorful fireworks that took on the formations of stars, seashells, and some were free style; going in their own directions under the moonlit sky. The fireworks show was a beauty and it was symbolic of the official end of the St. Thomas Carnival.

Afterwards, revelers headed into the Carnival Village for one last night. In the village there were concerts with performances by Rudy Live, The Caribbean Music Farm and Shurwayne Winchester. Additionally, carnival booths sold food and drinks and had big screen TVs so that revelers can watch the boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquioa. On the stage there were large screens that aired the fight as well. Afterwards, the concerts resumed and everyone started dancing again.

Overall, 2015 St. Thomas Carnival “Culture to the Extreme, V.I. Carnival 2015” was a blast! I sure hope you can make it to carnival next year!

***Did you enjoy this post? Then leave a comment, share on social media and subscribe to the newsletter! View more pictures in the gallery. If pics are no longer there, then follow me on Instagram to access all of the Travel with Africah adventures at Instagram.com/AFRICAH_HARRIGAN ***

Fireworks Show on the Charlotte Amalie Harbor. (Photo courtesy of George Silcott II).

Rudy Live performing at a concert in Carnival Village.