BERLIN CARNIVAL 2013 COVERAGE
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KDK 2013 Street Parade Pt. 1 May 19th, 2013

KDK 2013 Street Parade Pt. 2 May 19th, 2013

KDK 2013 Street Parade Pt. 3 May 19th, 2013

KDK 2013 Street Parade Pt. 4 May 19th, 2013

Carnival Glow 2013 May 18th, 2013

Soca Family BBQ Lime May 18th, 2013

Carnival Jump Up 2013 May 17th, 2013

Soca On The Beach May 17th, 2013

Karneval der Kulturen 2013

After hearing lots of reports about Berlin Carnival, I decided this was the year to experience it for myself. Call in Juicy Juice and Roopie and TJJ was ready. 3 days. 6 events. With all the ingredients for a good time - socaholics, fun lovers, drinks, the good stuff (ask Boone Chatta) and beautiful women... ok ok Roopie! ... and men too - the air was ripe with excitement.

Up first was Soca on the Beach at the lovely Bandeschiff @ Arena on Friday afternoon put on by Carnival Fever Entertainment. With a floating swimming pool, beach sand, upper decks, dancing room and patrons wanting to spread their ... um ... hands and leggggoooo, this party was vibesy too bad! I am still having flashes of a German wining queen, DJ Barrie Hype leading a 'Matrix Palance' and some strong drinks. That Chronic in a bottle is NO joke! DJs like Martin Jay, DJ Tate, Marflix, DJ High-Towa and GC Sound certainly got the weekend off right. The line for food was a little longish so I skipped it. But for those who had Chronic, I hear it hit the spot.

A couple hours later was onto event #2, Carnival Jump Up hosted by Soca Twins and held at Club Gretchen. The crowd that came overwhelmed the club - def should consider moving to somewhere bigger next year - but a good time was had by all. Apparently Germans are very much like Trinis - go to party around midnight and leave when the sun comes up. And in the hours in between, with the soca blasting and the vibes right, nuff winery was on display. Even Bajan headliner Peter Ram and Big Red sampled this winery during their performances. And then up from the crowd came shouts of "DSL! DSL! DSL!" ... I must say these letters got my attention but alas .... errr no ... this is the PG version - it means "Dutch Soca Lovers". Their crew was was at least 50 deep and ready to rumble! The DJs outdid themselves too -- Jam Masters, Barrie Hype and the much loved Soca Twins. Franky Fyah and Barrie Hype even had a mini-clash near the end... a real treat for the folks still there. In fact, even D-One (Jam Masters) with a bad leg got off his chair and was banging his crutches in salute!! Fantastic Friday indeed!

Saturday was c-c-c-cold! But once that carnival spirit grab you there's no stopping, so onto event #3, Carnival Fever Soca Family BBQ Lime at the outside area of Astra Kulturhaus we went. When the taxi pulled up, we were a lil' sceptical that this wasn't the right spot as it seemed a bit dodgy (3rd event, 3rd time we got this feeling) but once we walked in and heard the soca music jamming -- well, WE REACH. Rosie's Kitchen handled the food, and the line was long from start to finish. Real long. The vibes was nice but the cold weather put a damper on the jamishness. No worries, event #4 is only hours away, and if Friday was any indication of what to expect, Saturday would be another all nighter!!

Carnival Glow featuring Kes was held at the same location - Astra Kulturhaus - but on the inside. There was a main soca room and a smaller room for reggae. And both were packed. Outside had its own bar and seating area for folks that wanted to take a breather or just cool out. There were partygoers from across the Caribbean in the house - Antiga, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Suriname to name a few. I sure I left out some.

DSL was out in full force too.... ready to fog up d place! Once the warm up acts (which included Scrappy, Konata & The Tropical Storm band, Ms Desire and Triniboi Joocie) came and went and Kes took to the stage there was no end to the good vibes. Kes performance was boss as usual and the crowd certainly enjoyed every moment of it. Everyone was basking in the Glow.

Sunday - time for the street parade. There were 77 trucks in this year's parade but only 3 are Trini/Soca bands - Carnival Explosion (#45), TnT Masqueraders (#52) and the big band Carnival Fever (#77) being the very last truck. This meant lots of priming up time. Where is that Chronic?! By the end of the parade "Wheeeeey look at people?!?!!" was appropriate and from the looks of the crowd they were still having a time. De vibes cyar done!

Giving the Soca junkies another option this year was Carnival Explosion. With a "Super Blue" theme - complete with a Minshall-esque depiction of Super, this truck also had plenty vibes and plenty action. With full security it was quite easy for the masqueraders to bounce around and play themselves... and play themselves they did!! Even the man with the wooden leg was having a time. Soca Twins was again in fine form.... Soca in Germany, as a matter of fact .. Soca in Europe is SAFE with them for sure. TnT Masqueraders tied for 31st place and Carnival Explosion took 17th overall place in their very first year. Well done to all!!

Parade done and belly in hand. Who say FOOOD?!? Hendrick pulled a rabbit out of a hat and mentioned there was a Trini roti shop around the corner from the end of the parade - Merle's Roti and Rum. Did I mention this was at the end of the parade route?? What a bess location!!! Not so bess was that we reach the place after it close... but luckily we saw 4 people on the inside through the glass. But better yet was that they could see us too and the Trini ring on Roopie's finger! With a lil' sweet talk, Merle herself came to the door and let us in and soon enough we were on the inside enjoying some hot wings and drinks. Yup Roti, Pelau, Rum Punk and all the good stuff was done (#disappointed)... but meeting fellow Trini/Germans and enjoying their gracious hospitality was an unforgettable experience. Now Merle is not just the only roti shop in Berlin, but apparently the ONLY one in Germany!! Check it out yuhself - http://trinidad-cuisine.de/ or http://www.facebook.com/MerlesTrinidadCuisine.

The After Party, Caribbean Invasion (event #6) was held at Yaam Berlin but my migraine headache won the battle and it was back to the hotel. Berlin KDK 2013 ... stick ah folk in it!

We Love Carnival ... We Know Carnival ... WE ARE CARNIVAL!

Yours truly,
Choo Quan-stein aka Daddy Juice aka The Carnival Ref;
and the TJJ Berlin KDK 2013 Team -- Roopie and Juicy Juice

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