Bacchanal will maintain its legacy
ALTHOUGH THERE will be three Carnival bands participating in Carnival Jamaica this year, for many years, Bacchanal Jamaica was the island’s only band and the only source of feting for soca lovers.
According to Bacchanal Jamaica director, Charmaine Franklin, the band has built a legacy in Jamaica that is unmatched and unparalleled, and that legacy will allow them to maintain their fierce presence in Carnival for many years to come.
“I think there is a respect for our knowledge and how we operate, and I think our experience has helped us to maintain our revellers and keep them coming back year after year. I think we have given the public exactly what they wanted and we have been able to keep carnival alive. We’re now in the region, the second biggest carnival,” she said.
“We have put a lot of restructuring and marketing efforts behind Bacchanal over the years. We are a private company and so we have had to use our resources. Of course, we get sponsored by the private sector, but we built this brand into what it is now, a brand people love and rely on for Carnival. From year to year, we grow and we will continue this trend,” she added.
With two other bands now in the mix, competition is hot on the local Carnival scene. Franklin admitted that although Bacchanal would have loved to maintain their autonomy in the local Carnival space, her team welcomes the competition and believes it has helped to establish Jamaica’s Carnival among the most vibrant in the region.
“We would like to have remained a monopoly, because everybody likes to say they’re the only one doing this, but like everything else, it doesn’t work like that. Nobody expects anything to be static, because in life people like choices,” she expressed. “The two bands that have come in have used their marketing skills and they have made a name for themselves, and Jamaica is now number two to Trinidad now, based on all the efforts from everybody. But I don’t think revellers have forgotten who set the pace, and so Bacchanal will continue to build on its legacy each year.”