Here's what to expect when CaribFest steps off

By Carrie White

Correspondent

Costumes for this weekend's CaribFest centerpiece, the Parade of Bands, come in two sizes - big and huge.

Each group in the parade usually has one gigantic costume or float, something to set it apart, said Abby Mills, treasurer of the Virginia Caribbean American Cultural Association, which is hosting the third annual CaribFest on Friday and Saturday at Norfolk's Harbor Park.

The rest of the troupe's masqueraders wear costumes that pick up the colors and theme of the large costume. They often include elaborate headpieces.

"These large costumes are very brightly colored, all handmade and some can be as large as 10, 15, 20 feet high and wide. They are incredible," said Michael Forde, founder and president of VCACA. "I remember one costume in particular - it was a mechanical crab and must have been 30 feet high. It shot red liquid from its claws and sprayed the other band members, who were all dressed in white.

"Like most large costumes, it had wheels to help carry it. You can imagine how hard it is to dance wearing a 30-foot crab!"

More than 20,000 immigrants from the Caribbean live in Virginia, Forde said, but there was no Caribbean celebration for them. He was glad to have a hand in kicking off the local CaribFest in 2006.

Caribbean festivals in other parts of the country draw large crowds.

"In D.C., for example, there are over 7,000 Caribbean immigrants, and their most recent festival drew a crowd of more than 300,000," said Forde, a native of Trinidad who settled in this area after retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 2003.

In the Caribbean islands, the festivals - called carnivals - are celebrated throughout the year for religious, patriotic and other occasions. The centerpieces are huge parades with "masquerade bands."

While they're called bands, they aren't your typical marching bands, Forde said.

"When we say band, we mean a troupe. It's not like an American musical band."

Masquerade bands don't play music; that comes from DJs who accompany the bands on flatbed trucks outfitted with powerful speakers. Masquerade bands also are quite large, Forde said. "In the Trinidad festival, a band could have as many as 5,000 members."

So, what do the thousands of band members do if they don't play music?

Forde chuckled. "Well, it's hard to explain. You just have to see it." In addition to the dancing, which is choreographed and freestyle, band members keep busy with their costumes.

Although most of the costumes are made by hand in Hampton Roads, some will be imported from Trinidad.

"In Trinidad and other Caribbean islands, it's an art to make costumes. They are so elaborate, and they have the skill and the tradition there. Also, it's less costly there," Forde said.

His own 50-plus-person troupe, Odyssey, will be in the CaribFest parade. Forde said he and his wife have been working for months getting all the costumes ready.

Mills, the VCACA treasures, marvels at the work already put in on the troupe's largest, premier costume, a 16-foot-long, 20-foot-high butterfly.

"Mike and a couple other VCACA members have been working every day for several weeks straight so far putting the material, beads, feathers - lots of different things - on the framework. The huge costumes can be really expensive - a thousand dollars plus. Not every band can afford to have the big costumes."

It's a different experience for Forde, who never worked with costumes in Trinidad.

"In Trinidad, I beat the steel pans in the parades, but you watch people do it (make costumes), and it is something you pick up. I did shadow a designer in New York, but really started doing it when we started the CaribFest here.

"Basically, you start out with a design - an artist draws it. Then someone has to bend the aluminum for the frame and tape or weld it together. Sometimes there is chicken wire. You spray everything with a type of glue and cover the framework with newspaper, and then you add feathers, and everything else. My wife works with the smaller costumes. After they come back from the seamstress, she adds the feathers - and if there is a headpiece, the cardboard and sponge."

So far, eight bands, local and from as far away as New York and Connecticut, have been booked for CaribFest. Most are in the 50-100 member range.

"We're still a new festival, which is why the bands aren't as large," Forde said, "but we're growing fast."

In addition to the parade, there will be more traditional bands that play calypso, reggae, reggaeton (reggae with Latin overtones), soca (a combination of soul and calypso), and steel pan, including Nadia Batson, Mista Vybes, Michelle Sylvester, Ms. Alysha and Terry Seales.

"It's a real family affair with arts and crafts, food vendors, and a kids zone with face painting and jumping jacks - that inflatable bubble that kids can jump inside of," Forde said. "There's also calypso competition with bands from New York, Atlanta, and D.C. We're going to have a little bit of everything for everyone."

Carrie White, caramine2@aol.com