Cocoyea used to be one of the hard hitting players in Notting Hill Carnival. The Cocoyea brand produced massive parties in Camden Palais and the biggest outdoor fetes in the 90's and 2000's. Cocoyea was a power player. Those who remember Carnival in the early 1980's all through the early 2000s remember Cocoyea as a threat that was not to be rivalled with at all. Dexter Khan was the Samurai sword bearer and all his subjects were bona fide soca warriors.
I played with Cocoyea last year and I was a little bit disappointed at the paucity of costumes and the proliferation of Tshirt mas. Mas cannot be played in a t-shirt! I will not apologise for this and I am awaiting the day when Notting Hill Carnival Board will ban all forms of Tshirt mas at Carnival. Where is the splendour, where is the craftsmanship, where is the splendour, where is the magic? I digress- this is another post. Cocoyea was a shadow of its former self. The 50 of us playing in costumes were outnumbered by the Tshirt brigrade. Although drinks flowed and the vibes was nice, it would be great to see Cocoyea torpedoed back to the top with better management, deeper investment and more forward planning.
This year the theme is Confusion. The costumes themselves do not appear to have any specific names- we are advised to let it be what we want them to be. They are black and gold, purple and multicoloured. The purple is the best. I would not attempt to describe them any further as this would be overinterpreting and overreaching to find meaning. I tell, you, part of mass is lost.
I am told that the costumes range from 60 quid upwards, which, all things considered, is a bargain.
Point taken but, you forgot to mention that the financial crisis has also been a carnival crisis.
ReplyDeleteIn 2003 the government introduced the Licensing act which axed a lot of Festivals and Carnivals in UK. By the time the recession visited us, sponsorship dried, some of us left the funding system to assist carnival survival and it hasnt been easy because the funders also got cuts.
In practice what Cocoyea did in the 90s can not be done that easy in 2010/11 so you should have been easy on them with your nice article. Dont get me wrong I agree on the Tshirt ting but I did rather see a band in a Tshirt on the road than not see them at all maybe you should encourage NHC to have a special route for Tshirt bands?
Anywhere I better go now and help Cocoyea do their Olympics application!!