Suggestions to improve Carnival

Although I was away for most of Carnival, except the Queen Show, I watched events on Face Book and other online media.

I also heard glowing reports about the event from Antiguans and Dominicans living on Antigua. One such report was that "security was tight". Even the aftermath from the media, it was emphasized that it was a quiet Carnival year. To that I say "hooray"! This proves Dominica CAN do an exemplary job with its police force when proper organization and management are put in place.

I also heard that this year the costumes seemed more vibrant—a kaleidoscope of colors to please the eye. In past Carnivals, I've always thought that Dominican colors were bright. But I could never get anyone describing this current Carnival to explain why they were so exceptional this year.

Finally, the Queen Show was very well attended (myself included) despite the constant rain showers which turned the ground audience into a ceiling of umbrellas. Even the VIP section got wet! Somehow the tent ceiling didn't extend out from the frame and so the first four rows and two side rows had wet seats. Patrons arranged the chairs to duck the wet and left no aisles for easy passage. It was a bit chaotic.

In between the VIP and complimentary sections was the "food court". It was obvious after the first hour that more planning needs to be done if patrons are supposed to claim their food and drink with tickets. The servers were very slow in picking out what to put on plates from the platters of food. In the future, pre-made selections of meat and vegetarian in a small container would be of great help and expedite the distribution.

For servers going out into the crowd in VIP, the congestion of people ordering and the disappearance of aisles made their job very difficult and slow. They had only one way to exit the food court and it was crowded with patrons ordering their food. In the future, two separate areas, one for exit to serve and one for entrance to order would make the process streamlined. Also there weren't enough servers. With a crowd so large it would take about 50 plus servers to do the job efficiently. I doubt there were more than 20.

I talked with several persons with VIP tickets and they were not impressed with the amount they paid in return for the amenities. So next year, perhaps the suggestions I have made will be implemented.

Let the DFC know your concerns so the Queen Show can be proudly heralded as "tight organization and smooth facilitation".