15275: Hermantin-Maimi Herald- Miami, get ready! Mardi Gras coming (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Apr. 10, 2003

Miami, get ready! Mardi Gras coming
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

So you missed the big fete in Trinidad & Tobago. And you couldn't decide
between Rio and Haiti, while New Orleans completely escaped your mind.

No problem. Mardi Gras is coming to Miami.

This Sunday, the streets of downtown Miami will be transformed into a
kaleidoscope of colorful costumes and floats as the euphoric sounds of
cumbia, compas and batucada dance through the air.

The creation of some Haitian-American activists, with input from carnival
lovers of all backgrounds, Miami Mardi Gras will be more than a street
party, organizers say. It's a $600,000 prebirthday celebration for Haiti's
upcoming 200th anniversary, which organizers hope will become an annual
event rivaling Calle Ocho and New Orleans' Mardi Gras.

''This is our chance to show the world what our culture is about,'' said
event organizer Ringo Cayard, who sees Miami Mardi Gras as something that
can help boost the city's slowly rebounding tourism economy.

Cayard, who is head of the Haitian American Foundation Inc., said the event
will be an international affair that not only commemorates Haiti's influence
in the Americas but carnival celebrations throughout the continent.

He said organizers had originally hoped to hold the party in February,
before Mardi Gras on March 4, but moved it back because so many other events
were scheduled then.

FLASHY COSTUMES

Not to be outdone by Miami Carnival, Miami Mardi Gras will also feature its
own share of elaborate costumes, some of which were shipped in directly from
Haiti and used during that country's Jacmel carnival.

''People are always showing the negative images of Haiti, but Haiti is so
full of positive things,'' said Michaelle Craan, the matriarch of Jacmel's
120 year carnival celebrations who has been serving as a consultant on Miami
Mardi Gras.

Popular Haitian artists like Sweet Micky and T-Vice will be joined by
Jamaica's Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, Colombia's Grupo Niche and popular
Miami soca deejay Giselle D Wassi One, to name a few.

ARRAY OF MUSIC

Cayard says the multicultural array of music is appropriate because Haiti
helped Simón Bolívar and Francisco Miranda win the independence of
Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. ''Having all of these
cultures come together especially in carnival, which I think is one of the
most unifying experiences there is, is a wonderful thing,'' said Giselle D
Wassi One, who is asking everyone to ``walk with their flags.''

And that is one of the reasons why the City of Miami, which will shut down
parts of Biscayne Boulevard for the 2 p.m. parade, decided to help sponsor
the event, said Michelle Spence, the city's special events director. In
addition to providing in-kind police and fire services, the city provided a
$30,000 grant for the event, which takes place from 2 p.m. to midnight
adjacent to Bayfront Park. Miami-Dade County chipped in about $300,000.

''Everyone is excited about what is happening this weekend,'' Spence said.

``I think this can be a great event.''





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