"Next Year I am going with you; No you aren't" But here is how you can plan for Spicemas 2024.

It's still 30 before 30 season, but I had to take a detour and return to the island I fell in love with last year Grenada (https://www.breeleaves.com/post/grenada-i-did-absolutely-nothing-and-i-will-do-it-again.) In 2022, our friends (mentioned in the other blog) invited us to SpiceMas but the timing didn't work so we made sure that in 2023 we weren't missing it. Immediately I followed @spicemasgrenada and waited. (Go ahead and follow them now as they are the most important page to follow if you want to know anything about next year.)

Now that everything is over, I have unpacked and settled back into normal life. I must admit, I didn't want to type this blog because I didn't want to admit it was over. But now that they have dropped the dates for next year I can plan for next year. And with the completion of any trip I seem to take comes the "Next year, I promise Bree I am going with you" comments. And I am here to say this now: No you are not. You were never invited, you will not be invited. But what I do know is I will tell you the planning process that went into this year and if you want to go next year you know what to do. I don't like to recommend things I have not done as I can only speak from my experience. So hopefully this blog will provide all of the information you need to know to help answer any questions.

The Basics:

Where: Spicemas 2023- Grenada

When: August 2023

Band: Lavish

Costume Cost: $850 (Breakdown below)

Where we stayed: Royalton Grenada

Details: 5 days, 4 nights $830 pp (3 ppl)

• ranted about this hotel in the last Grenada blog so I will not be giving many details about that. The property is still the same and still gorgeous. Some of our friends are still there and others have left but not much has changed

Okay on to the details y'all want to know:

The band: Lavish The Band.

How did I find the band- Instagram. That's it that's all. After following @SpicemasGrenada for a while around March/April the buzz for the Grenada band launches started to hit my TL. After looking at the Instagram pages for the 7 Carnival band and their 2022 sections my friend and I went with the first one we saw that launched when we were ready to pay and it just so happened to be Lavish.

All together there are 7 large bands: (PLEASE FOLLOW THEM ALL AS EVERY BAND HAS SPECIFIC LAUNCH DATES AND DETAILS PERTINENT TO THAT BAND)

1. Golden Mas Band (@Goldenmasband)

2. Vibe Mas (@vibemascarnival)

3. Nirvana (@NirvanaEmpire)

4. Oro Luxury Carnival Grenada (@oroluxurycarnivalgnd)

5. Lavish (@lavishtheband)

6. Bachique (@bachiquecarnival)

7. Xtascy Mas Band (@xtascymasband)

When it came to the costume- everything was done in Grenada. In April when the bands launched and costumes were available to be ordered my friend and I agreed on the section we wanted and which costume in the section we wanted. We put down a deposit of $200 and were told we had until June 31st to pay off the remaining balance. Outside of that I thought nothing else about the costume lol. When it came to picking a size the best way I can describe it is, picking your swimsuit size. The costumes are made to order using standard measurement sizes so if you are a 36c then you would put your bra size as 36c, etc. I have my gripes about my costume but overall I wasn't upset, just annoyed

Costume Breakdown:

Almost every band will have a breakdown similar to this (prices vary so please take that into account this year's price may not be next year's price)

This breakdown will also include photos of the different body wear options, but I must say if you are at this point and you do not know what body wear option you want you may just miss out. Costumes get purchased quickly and with the way people are talking about going next year, you might want to have backups too.

The costume I chose was Body Wear Option 2 with a Small Backpack. The package also included an additional Complimentary Monday Wear swimsuit

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The week before carnival, your band will send out collection details. This will let you know when and where you are to go to pick up your costume. Honestly, the before process is the best part.

FOR US the pickup process was horrible. Due to plane delays, I did not arrive until 9 p.m. However my friends who arrived on the island that morning had been at the pickup place at 3 p.m. When I arrived they were still not done, and I was glad I came. One friend's costume did not fit at all. Although it was the proper size it was baggy in the stomach region. So she was waiting for the seamstress they had on hand to work on hers. Another's backpack was horrendous, the vast majority of her section did not take theirs. She was in one area waiting for a solution, which was chaotic. When I arrived at 10 pm. My MAIN costume was nicely packaged in a box that had my name, and at the initial look it was perfect but then I went to try it on. Similar to my friend, who was in the same section, it was baggy. I unfortunately had to leave my costume with the seamstress overnight and pick it up on Sunday. So that took an additional 3 hours on Sunday.

When it came to the Monday wear, the items were just haphazardly in boxes. Similar to what I think the back of Victoria's Secret stores look like. Similar to picking your costume, the Monday wear options were chosen based on bra and bottom size. However, it appears that the Monday wear arrived late and they did not have time to properly separate the items so the day of they had to go digging in the boxes to distribute the items. I have been behind the scenes of fashion shows where there are multiple costume changes and that was more organized. But never the less we got our costumes.

Parties: https://www.go2fete.com (This is all you need for that)

For those who will be in Grenada the week before there is an event called Pree Day

Another event held in Grenada’s stadium, this concert is hosted by Tallpree, one of the most well-known Soca artists. He also is from Grenada. This is a concert that, of course, goes on all day and into the night. A true celebration of Soca music. He has direct ties to Lavish so participation in this band includes a complimentary ticket to his party.

NOW the real fun part. The purchase of the costume included the Lavish Experience. (Below)

Translation- all the stuff mentioned below was included.

Okay so the overview is done:

I had a great time but I also love Grenada and more specifically Caribbean culture. If you just want to go to be in the mix do not go to Grenada. Grenada loves Grenada and when I say that, understand that Carnival is Grenada's celebration of Grenada so if you aren't familiar with Grenadian artists you better do your research now.

Monday was the start of all the festivities.

From dawn on Carnival Monday (J'Ouvert), traditional masqueraders dressed as devils called Jabs-Jabs (French Creole, from diable diable 'devil devil') parade through the streets of Grenada. The history behind JabJab- Slaves would watch their owners at parties that they weren’t allowed to attend, oftentimes calling them devils. Dressing up as their devilish owners became somewhat of a tradition that evolved into what’s known as “jab jab” or playing the devil.

On this celebration day, participants put on costumes and cover themselves with dark oil. They put on horned hats made from cattle horns (picture a Viking hat) and parade in the streets. If you need a visual image, check out the video below.

Whatever you think you heard about J'Ouvert take that and include mechanical engine oil. Before the sunrises expect to be COVERED in oil. I mean covered- you will smell like Auto Zone for hours after you shower lol. At 4 AM you meet your band at the designated pickup point and you just party through the streets. I LOVED IT. I can't explain it it's really just an experience. Just plan to get really, really messy. If you don’t show up covered in enough oil, the locals will help you out with one of their oil drums stationed throughout the streets.

In the afternoon, the traditional and fancy Mas bands participate in the Monday parade. This is where we collectively had on our Monday wear (the additional swimsuit). Similar to the route your band took in the morning you follow your band's DJ until you get to the point where you cross the stage at the National Stadium before parading through the streets of St. George’s. Then that night you head home to prepare for Monday Night Mas. Where you wear your band t-shirt(which was given to you) and parade through the streets in a sea of LED lights.

Long story short if you do Monday correctly it's a 4 am to 4 am type of day, you can nap in between if you are able to maintain.

Carnival Tuesday-

PARADE OF THE BANDS LAST LAP. Self Explanatory. But this is the day you put on your full costume and backpack and prepare to be on the road. The final culmination of the entire weekend of festivities. You make one last tour of the streets. According to the islanders (the ones I chatted with), Grenadian Spicemas is sometimes referred to as “The Last Lap” of all Caribbean Carnivals. When Grenada moved its Carnival to the end of the tourism season in August, it became one of the last big Carnival celebrations of the Caribbean.

My Personal Lavish Experience:

Okay so besides the fact that visually Lavish looked GOOD. The behind the scenes was a mess. Pickup and distribution was chaotic, and it was almost like the workers were overwhelmed and annoyed. This is understandable but the lack of communication led to it being chaotic and it was no need for that. Leading up until Monday you had no idea of wtf was going on until 8pm Sunday night. You literally just had to monitor your email because the instagram was not posting updates in real time. As a person who has never been to Carnival, if it were not for the lady at the resort helping us we would have not known what to wear on Monday because that was not disclosed. My friend messaged the IG page to ask a question and there was no response, even though they were actively posting and reposting. When they finally arrived Monday everyone was trying to get liquor and food that they rushed the drink cart. Safe to say, I didn't have the patience to be running beside a moving vehicle to get some tequila and sprite- so I didn't. On top of the fact that the one lady who was responsible for giving out food had an attitude and stopped responding to people after a point. So Monday we were on the road fighting for food and water, in an effort to not exert all my energy I just gave up and left it alone.

On top of them not being responsive they would be hours late to the places where they told us to meet without sending a "hey we running late" email. Granted I know what goes into a large event and the planning, but respect other people time. After Monday, we learned quickly so on Tuesday we showed up 2 hours late to the meeting point. Only for them not to be there AND it started raining. I was pissed, it rained for a solid 45 minutes before Lavish started to show up. But by that time I had told myself "eff it we ball" and I had a great time never the less. But the logistics are what turned me off from Lavish. BEAUTIFUL people, costumes are fire, but it wasn't organized well enough for MY liking. This year may have just been a rough behind the scenes year. BUT I would recommend Lavish for all of those who are looking to attend next year.

OVERALL: 10/10

The key is wearing comfortable shoes, drinking your water, and getting some rest. If you do it properly- you will get rest on the plane ride back.

All in all, would I do it again: YES. I will be back, I enjoyed playing Mas with Lavish but for the first time, it left a lot to be desired. I also expected much more based on the stories I was told, but overall I had a great time. I do not know what band I will be playing with next year, and I probably won't say until the last minute. BUT Spicemas 2023 was an experience and I am happy I went. So go ahead and follow @spicemasgrenada and the bands I listed for updates about next year. Hopefully, I see you on the road.