Although Trini Jungle Juice is no stranger to the Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival, having covered it for the past couple years, this was actually a 1st time experience for this year's TJJ team. But make no mistake, Tampa Bay was actually celebrating their 17th annual staging of this event, so it was our turn to head to North West Florida to see what it's all about!

The Marriott Courtyard hotel in St. Petersburg would be camp headquarters for this trip, and it was quite a convenient location as Vinoy Park was only about a 5 minute drive away. And this park was the venue for both days of concerts in Downtown, St. Petersburg. Of course, our first foray to the park didn’t go so smoothly, and took a bit longer than 5 minutes, but we did get to speak to many of the locals while asking for directions and we also saw where the NY Yankees train in the off season.

We finally arrived at the park in the early afternoon, and things were already buzzing. You could hear the music wafting over from the stage area and see folks with chairs, blankets and umbrellas in hand walking to the entrance, while others were looking for parking. Due to the hospitality of the TBCC, we were granted reserved parking and quick entry via the Artist/Media entrance. This placed us right by the stage area, so we made a quick pit-stop backstage to setup the equipment and then were out and about.

Photos By Andre C.Q. & Collin Mc.
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Vinoy Park is a really nice venue. Its quite HUGE and bordered on one side by water ... I guess that’s Tampa Bay? There was enough space for three long rows of food and merchandise vendors, yet leaving ample room for patrons to occupy sections of the park comfortably, with a good view of the main stage. And since this is really a multicultural event, with Day 1 more targeted to a Latin audience, there were lots of food vendors serving up those delicious Latin flavors! Towards the rear end of the park (not far away from the main entrance), New Generation Branches steelband were jamming on their white & silver steel drums throughout most of the day. It was nice to see folks enjoying the sweet sounds of steel. And closer to the stage, our cameras spotted quite a few in the audience people salsa dancing to the deejay's music, before (and during) the main acts.

The host for the weekend, Smallie, did a great job is announcing all the acts, and more so ... kept the show running smoothly. Latin League kicked off the main performances on the evening, and was followed by Cuban jazz trumpeter and pianist, Arturo Sandoval. Judging from the crowd's response, it wasn't hard to tell that Sandoval is quite popular in the Latin community. Arturo and his band were on stage for at least 45 minutes performing what can be described as 'Latin Jazz' numbers.

When their set was over we mistakenly thought that concert was over, but we were wrong. There was an even bigger roar from the audience when the next act was announced. Headliner Gilberto Santa Rosa, also known as "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa), then graced the stage with his full band. And again, it was another spirited and well received performance from a Latin band, evident by the large number of Puerto Rican flags which waved high as Gilberto belted out all of his hits.

Day 1 ended a little before 10PM, and it was back to base camp to rest up (well try to) before heading out to the "Pretty Girls Fete" at the West Tampa Convention Center.

Spudz McKenzie

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Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival 2009 Day 2 - Festival & Concert