Foreday Morning Jam - Bajan jouvert?

Jambalassee band

The pace of Crop Over has heated up lately, as we speak bandleaders are in frantic late night meetings, at least one band has started producing costumes, with each day bringing "sneak peeks" of what's in store. 

I got to thinking though, alongside jump up aka Kadooment Day, we have Foreday Morning Jam. Happening in the wee hours of Crop Over Saturday, this is the fastest growing event in Crop Over, as one can see by the plethora of bands that now exist. About 8,500 people were expected in 2011. Some may know the jam as "jouvert". For our friends who've never heard of it here's what it means!

Starting after the 'Pic-O-De-Crop' competition, the parade passes along Spring Garden Highway, just like the Kadooment jump. It continues along its route from approximately midnight to after 6am. Live DJ music from the trucks of the different bands, Bajan folk characters like the stilt men populate the showcase as it moves along. 

The Bajan  "tuk band" is one rhythm you can expect to hear pulsing, in addition to the odd Trinidadian "rhythm section" imported by some bands.

Like other midnight mas around the world, anything from mud, paint, and of course water feature, with your aim being to either avoid it completely, or carry it around in a bucket to slather on those trying to avoid it!  Spectators line the route which is one of the safest I've seen in my Carnival experience all over the world. Even children are amongst those who taking in the revelry while trying to dodge the enthusiastic revellers pelting paint!

Suprisingly, a lot of the continued success of Foreday had to do with a private company, Roberts Manufacturing. The company even supplies its own truck so those not jumping with a band can still participate. In the present day, the jam has seen the young and hip quickly catch on, so that now you may choose from a wide range of options when it comes to bands.

Green Lizards band

Island Fusion 2011

Mojito Jouvert band 2012

Island Fusion band 2011

   

Budget bands start at $50 US, a fancier version of a costume may run up to $85 US or so. Most bands include breakfast and a bit of a cooldown after the route. Amazing value for what it is!

There's something I've always found cleansing (ironically) about covering yourself in paint, mud, oil, and water. It's like a baptism, from which you emerge a new being, born again. The lack of inhibitions and breaking down of barriers of class, age, race and all else leads to a sheer joy that culminates in the daybreak of the Foreday morning sun.

Welcome to Crop Over!

For information on registration in Foreday morning bands, see here