CAYMAN CARNIVAL BATABANO 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Cayman Carnival Batabano celebrated its 40th. anniversary and embraced the theme of “All Nations, One Celebration” at its Adult Parade. A group of South African dancers – La Pasista de Samba Tropicale from Cape Verde, Africa, beauty queens from Latin America, the Indians, famous costume designers from Honduras, Colombia and Panama along with a Cayman Airways float, pirates and local carnival legend Reba Dilbert were part of the festivities on the road on Saturday May 6.

“The road parade for 2023 was designed to represent and highlight the melting pot of cultures that make up Grand Cayman as one community,” said Batabano Chairperson Donna Myrie. “For the 40th staging, as promised in our many social media posts and interviews where we promoted a different presentation to what the general public is used to, we marked the occasion by introducing to the island celebrity international costume designers and participants representing the USA, Honduras, Columbia, Panama, Africa. Change is inevitable, Batabano has always been about birthing new events, new experiences, new ideas, and this was just another avenue to showcase to our audience the diversification of what makes us as a nation - great.”

MC Gizelle - The Wasi One and DJ Eternal Vibes had the spectators along the Seven Mile route rocking to Soca vibes. First time visitors at the various hotels who came out to watch the parade were given a shout out, birthdays were celebrated and everyone was encouraged to take a jump. Businesses along the parade route were also acknowledged.

On Cardinal Avenue, the Food Festival was the ultimate street food extravaganza. Beginning at noon, seventeen local vendors served up delectable cuisine for the thousands of patrons that came for the end of the Parade and the Las Lap Street Dance.

Prior to Carnival day, Batabano hosted “Carnival on D’Avenue”. This event on Cardinal Avenue was a Happy Birthday party to not only celebrates Batabano’s 40th. but also as thank you to all sponsors and supporters. The Avenue came alive with the glamour and glitz of beautiful costumes and gowns worn on the red carpet by international and local beauty queens, including Miss Honduras World and Miss Universe Cayman Islands Chloe Powery – Doxey. The sweet sound of Pan music by Caymanian pan professional Michael Lemay and his team added to the festive atmosphere. The evening ended with the release of forty blue and pink balloons and the cutting of the Happy Birthday cake.

The much-anticipated Friday Night Fete dubbed “Outta de Blue” was held on Seafarer’s Way. NXTGEN Sound started off the dancing with some nostalgic Soca to take everyone down memory lane with Batabano before sliding into more “hard fete” music. The Wasi One and Eternal Vibes hyped the crowd for the performance by headliner Soca sensation Skinny Fabulous who lived up to his promise. As with audiences around the world – the song Come Home, had everyone jumping and waving like they had never done before.  Local DJ Joshie Vybz ended the party at 2am.

The seventh staging of J’ouvert took place on Saturday 29 April. The word J’ouvert is French for the opening or start and marks the opening festivities of carnival worldwide. It is a highly anticipated event on the Cayman Carnival Batabano series of fetes and is a euphoric experience of paint, mud, water and a great time and with a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon, ackee and cod fish or stew chicken. J’ouvert enthusiasts vibe to nonstop pulsating music – forgetting the worries of the world for a few hours.

The Cayman Carnival Batabano Team wishes to thank all the sponsors and supporters who have contributed to our many events and assisted in making this year’s celebrations a reality for 2023 – Ministry of Tourism, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage, Ministry of Planning, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure, DART, CUC, Radio Cayman, Jacques Scott, Cayman Airways, Caymanian Times, RCIPS, JN Money, EventPro, Le Classique,  Marz  Designs, Acorn, Yello , and B Creativ.