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The weather since our arrival here in Houston has been quite dismal and overcast, with persistent rainfall and even word of flooding in certain areas. The festivities of Houston’s Caribfest were getting a little bashing from good ole mother nature. Despite these conditions however, TJJ was not planning on playing a game of Cricket … soooo come rain or shine the team was going to be out in full effect.

We touched down at The TruckYard close to 4AM, after passing cars upon cars parked outside the venue. So one thing was for certain … there were going to be tons of people inside! Then again … even at the main entrance there was a pile up of people awaiting entry. So its people everywhere!!

Now walking into a J’ouvert fete you would normally expect to see patrons covered in the likes of oil, paint, cocoa and even mud … then again what is normal??!! Well if you were a newbie to Caribfest’s J’ouvert, your expectations of what is normal would have surely been altered! Actually your first words probably might have been … OMG or for those a little more expressive … WTF! This J’ouvert had a different twist! The kind that might have made you feel as though you were walking into a butcher shop to order up some meat. What do we mean by this??!! Well with the vivid display of various “meats” being portrayed, worn and carried around by revelers, one would really wonder. Ha ha … all in good fun!! Big up de Grenadian massive dem!

Once you became immune to these sights however, it was now time to enjoy the music, vibes and drinks of this fete and take a good J’ouvert Palance … splashing and dashing in the mass amounts of water all around … from the excessive rainfall that is! This was also another fete where all the islands represented strong for their nationality … where wearing tall galoshes was both trendy as well as functional and … where prim and proper definitely was not the attitude of the day … if you came to have a good time!

Tallpree’s performance along with the huge DJ line up kept patrons on their toes as far as entertainment goes. Everyone was playing a wicked jab to the wide musical genres that ranged from Soca to Hip Hop; R&B and even Reggae. Also, every now and again the dance was lit up by a huge ball of fire, as the flame throwing posse prowled the dance floor. If you didn’t see the flame, you surely felt the burst of heat let off by it … lol!

Drinks were readily available at the bar, which was located on the right hand side of the entrance to the main party area. Food and other vending booths were also set up, and ran up and down the two sides leading to the covered party area. All the essentials were present. The only thing left to do was to let go and enjoy the ride!

Well as saying goes … “Yuh cah play Mas if you fraid Powder!” Once you were an advocate of this statement, then it was guaranteed that you would have had a ball at this J’ouvert bash. Walking out thinking about a strategic plan for footwear come next year …

-d’ local Juice

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>> View J'Ouvert (Houston CaribFest 2010) Gallery
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