An inter-generational mix of people attended the first bandlaunch for the upcoming Carnival 2025: Yuma’s Echoes of Iere. However, it was heavily skewed to a more youthful end.
Although threats of rain and Hurricane Beryl loomed, it did not dampen the first band launch out of the gate.
Bandlaunches usually take place from the end of June into July, August, and even early September, giving potential masqueraders a view of what they can get for their money as well as time to purchase what they like.
By 10.26 pm, people lined up outside of the International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain. At around, 10.30 pm, they were let in and were greeted by the sounds of DJ Watty as he took them through a mix of musical hits from the 80s and 90s. The event’s scheduled time was 10 pm-4 am.
Yuma Vibe – known for its pretty mas and its use of feathers – did not disappoint its followers who were given 14 sections from which to choose their 2025 costume.
A member of the band’s media and marketing team, Acacia de Verteuil told Newsday, “We had this theme previous to 2020, we wanted to work on specific to the roots of Carnival. Of course, the pandemic happened and we did not quite go into it as we wanted to.
[caption id="attachment_1093632" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Castara costume -[/caption]
“We did not want to let it go, so we thought, 'let us find another way to show our connections to our roots in Trinidad and Tobago to capture the complexity, the diversity of our culture, of our people, all the things that make us who we are.'”
Initially the band’s theme was called The Spirit of Trinidad but was then amended to Echoes of Iere, which spoke more to TT’s indigenous culture, she said.
“Who we are, by essence, is Iere. That is how we started. We decided to use that word to capture the overall theme and I think we did a pretty good job,” she added.
[caption id="attachment_1093629" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Echoes from Yuma's 2025 Carnival presentation. - Daniel Prentice[/caption]
The Yuma team was happy with the attendance at Saturday’s event and said there was a virtual watch for people outside of the country, which was also well-subscribed.
Despite increases in the cost of raw materials to produce the costumes, Yuma has maintained a standard for accommodating the TT budget, de Verteuil said.
“Of course, there might be rises in certain things from a logistical perspective or from a drinks or food perspective; there may be economies of scale we may benefit from because of the sheer number of people we have within the band.
[caption id="attachment_1093627" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Magnificent 7 - Daniel Prentice[/caption]
“I expect our prices are going to be palatable to the market. I expect they (masqueraders) are going to be happy because for the last two years, coming out of a very tough time, we have been able to sell out completely, in excess of 4,000 masqueraders,” she said.
She said it was not a number the band had before, as it usually tried to stay between 2,5
