Who Are the 2024 Carnival King and Queen?

There is a new Carnival King and Queen. The forty-ninth competition was held over the weekend in Belize City with a total of eighteen competitors, five in the junior male and five in the junior female categories. And in the senior king and queen categories there were four and four, with the Fort Revelers being a no-show at the eleventh hour. For those who attended the Carnival Queen and King competitions at the Belize City Civic Centre on Saturday night, their favorite presenters adorned themselves in costumes made of designs and color blends never before seen. News Five’s Marion Ali was there and filed this report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

From the time the competition began around seven pm, until it ended before nine, eighteen king and queen competitors in the senior and junior king and queen categories rallied for the loudest cheers and most importantly, the favor of the judges. President of the Belize Carnival Association, Patrick Thompson explained to us that the competition was really for bragging rights over who rules the Carnival Road March as far as kings and queens are concerned.

 

Patrick Thompson, President, Belize Carnival Association

“This is where these costumes get their individual judging because they are not judged on road march. They are just to enhance the groups’ storyline, and the judges have their criteria where they will be looking for the mobility of the costume, the originality, the blend of colors, and  how the player display the costume rather than just dance or push or pull the costume. We don’t want to see if that person can do the latest dance, you know, because that person and the costume should be one.”

 

The judges were carefully studying the costumes even before the competitors wore them for their presentations. At the end of it all, Jump Street Posse won the Junior Queen Category, while Soca Massive won the Junior King Category. In the Senior Queen category, Soca Moca won, and Belizean Jewels captured the Senior King title. Head Judge, Jerome Ali explained to News Five what impressed him and what didn’t.

 

Jerome Ali, Head Judge, Carnival King and Queen Competition

“The costumes were well put together.  We had seen that colors and most of the ideas put together. I like what I saw tonight. The impact I was looking at is how well these king and queen players perform. And that was the main aspect of what we’re really looking at – how they take that costume and carry it through to create that true carnival spirit that we wanted to see.”

 

Marion Ali

“And how impressed were you with that segment?

 

Jerome Ali

“The impact was good. I could have seen a little more because I noticed some of the costumes were a bit weighted. That prevented a lot of, well – the movement that I wanted to see due to the fact that the material that is being used in Belize compared to the Caribbean is that light. Somehow I feel that these mass builders need to get their hands on lightweight materials.”

 

Carnival President Thompson said the results of the king and queen competition have no bearing in any way on which group wins the prizes in the various categories for the road march, which will take place this Saturday.

 

Patrick Thompson

“Once this competition is over tonight, it doesn’t, it doesn’t factor – it is not a carryover of points to the road march, but in our rules, it states that the king and the queen must be in the road march because like I said, it is a part of their entire storyline that they are depicting carnival day. And as a matter of fact, I would say that these are the two major characters within their storyline. So there is a major point deduction for not being in the road march of all these costumes must be in the road march.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.