By Stephen Weir
The individuals of Iqaluit ought to name it Arctic Mas after a weekend of Caribbean carnival costumes and reside music within the metropolis of snow (and extra snow). And there are plans within the works for an Easter weekend redux!
Earlier this month, costume maker and carnival chief Thea Jackson borrowed an outsized Canada Goose coat and caught a aircraft with Calypso singer Edwin Yearwood and DJ DOC (Doc Wright) to the frozen north. They had been headed for Iqaluit, the capital metropolis of the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
“It took us two days to get there from the Ottawa Airport,” mentioned Jackson. “Flights had been canceled, and people who flew left late.”
“It was blizzard situations with winds as much as 80 km,” she continued. “Once we lastly landed, it was like arriving within the Caribbean, however solely in reverse. As a substitute of instantaneous warmth, it was instantaneous frozen nostrils as we exited by the again ramp.”
It was additionally climate shock for Yearwood. It was 30 levels in Barbados when he flew to Canada and minus 37 after they stood within the whirling snow of Iqaluit.
The three had been there to current the first-ever Nunavut Carnival Launch Get together, Calypso by Yearwood, wall-to-wall soca and reggae by the DJ, and costumes by Jackson.
“We had been days late. I needed to actually head from the airport to the lodge and begin organising of their giant banquet corridor,” defined Jackson. “Earlier than heading north, I made 50 tiaras and rounded up sufficient rags for everybody who got here out!”
The March 2nd launch celebration was an enormous success, attracting a whole bunch for the free fete. “It was break up equally amongst Inuit, Caribbean, and White individuals. There are literally lots of Caribbeans and Africans residing and dealing within the metropolis; they also have a Caribbean membership!”
The free launch had the help of Barbados, which introduced Edwin Yearwood as much as the Arctic to carry out. He mentioned that whereas he had carried out in Iceland earlier than, it wasn’t as chilly or windy as Nunavut.
For Jackson, this was the second attempt to make it above the Arctic Circle. A 2013 go to full with a costume-making workshop was canceled. This time, not even a blizzard might preserve her away.
“We are literally going again Easter weekend. I shall be bringing two giant costumes and holding a costume-building workshop and grand finale.”
The trio had a fast turnaround after the present ended however had time to tour Iqaluit, which sits on huge Baffin Island in Frobisher Bay. Over 8,000 individuals reside there, 50 of them most likely nonetheless carrying Caribbean tiaras.
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