As it participates in the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade for the second successive year, Skymaxxmas hopes to reveal “Hidden Treasures” on Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway.
“There are so much beautiful places in the world — some we get to see in person, some we get to see on TV,” said Band Leader Kison Ventour, who hails from St. Andrew’s, Grenada, in a Caribbean Life interview at the mas camp on East 94th Street in Brooklyn.
“But there are some we may not ever get to see,” he added. “Some are covered by jungles and hard-to-get-to places. Those I call ‘Hidden Treasures.’”
Ventour said some of the seven sections in the medium-size band comprise Sunset Treasure, Garden of Eden, Lapis Lazuli and Ameythst Goddess.
He said about 25 masqueraders will play in each section, stating that they come from “all over.”
“It’s a mixture of Caribbean culture,” Ventour said. “I try not to keep it Grenadian alone. We have Trinidadians, Panamanians, Guyanese, St. Lucians, Grenadians, and masqueraders from Toronto.”
He said registration is picking up, as masqueraders learn that the Carnival Parade is on this year.
“So, we’re expecting a full, last-minute set of people coming,” said Ventour, a former DJ-turned-mas man.
“I used to be a DJ, but I don’t do it anymore,” he added. “I was always a masquerader — Jab Jab; it’s a Grenada thing.
“People can expect lots of colors and lots of happy people, because Labor Day is back — a lot of soca, a lot of excitement,” Ventour continued. “As soon as people learned that Labor Day is back, it was non-stop calling.
“People are even coming from Boston,” he said. “People are excited to be back, because not everybody can go to Miami or Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.”
Ventour disclosed that six DJs, including the chief, Militant J, a Barbadian, will furnish soca music for masqueraders.
The mas camp is located at 589 East, 94th St., between Linden Boulevard and Avenue A in Brooklyn.
Ventour can be reached at Skymaxxmas@gmail.com, or call (347) 615-9430.
