Subject: Broward Caribbean Carnival Press Release

BROWARD CARRIBBEAN CARNIVAL INC.

Bridging Cultures

P U B L I C S E R V I C E A N N O U N C E M E N T
The Peoples' Only Carnival

Broward Caribbean Carnival Inc in association with Broward County and the City of Ft. Lauderdale presents The Peoples' Only Carnival, Sunday October 7, 2007 @ Ft. Lauderdale Stadium Fairgrounds – 5301 North West 12th Ave, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, 33309 from 9am-11:00 pm. It's Columbus Day Holiday Weekend so come on out and have a time!

Broward Caribbean Carnival is a harmonious event, with a great vibe produced as a result of an eclectic blend of people, music, food and drinks. Our carnival parade of bands starts at 11:00 am and travels through the beautiful roadways alongside the Fairgrounds.

Let Broward Caribbean Carnival provide you and your family with great non-stop entertainment from the Caribbean. Entertainment include- JMC Treveni and Roy Cape and the Kaiso AllStars from Trinidad. Red Hot Flames from Antigua. Of Course, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires out of Jamaica and many, many more bands and individual artists. All your local drinks will be available, not to mention your Jerk Foods, Curry, Creole and American dishes. Come and satisfy all your cravings, whether it is good food or lots of fun. Plenty beverages to keep you cool, rides for the kids, and great live entertainment all day long. Come early, stay late. Let's have fun. Be safe. Drink responsibly and enjoy the Columbus Day weekend Caribbean carnival style!

It is easy to get to Ft. Lauderdale Stadium Fairgrounds , take I-95 North or South to Commercial Blvd West. Head West on Commercial Blvd. Make a Right on NW 12th Ave, Ft. Lauderdale Stadium Fairgrounds is on the left.

Special Thanks to our major sponsors- 103.5 The Beat, Air Jamaica, MoneyGram, D'Zamora Corp, VP Records, Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union, Alize, Carib, Guinness, The Marriot, Las Palmas Hotel, Ocean Manor Resort, Travelspan, Spirit Airlines and Hennessy and to all our media partners- 1080AM, 1400AM, 1170AM, WRFG 89.3 out of Atlanta and Trini Bashment 91.9 out of Trinidad.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our guests, patrons, vendors and corporate for your support throughout 2K5-2K6 and we look forward to your continued support in 2K7 season. Remember, Sunday, October 7, 2007 is a day for the family and Broward Caribbean Carnival is a family carnival. No coolers or packages in the park. Admission to carnival is $10 for kids 7-15 years old and $20 for Adults and kids over 16 years old.

For more info, call 954.806.8396, 305.389.4369 or 954.793.4856 or log on to www.caribbeancarnival.org

So....I saw this article a few days ago, and like i said in a previous post i feel for the band leaders and masqueraders that have chosen to be In Broward. I read the article and didn't try to be biased in any way..these are just excerpts you can see the whole article here.

The costumes already are sparkling, the vendors lined up, and an advertisement blitz well on the way.

But the Broward Caribbean Carnival, which attracts thousands of visitors and artists from as far as New York and the Caribbean, is homeless a month before the event.

On Thursday, a day after Miramar city commissioners voted against hosting it at a local park,supporters started an international e-mail campaign to demand that city and Broward County officials help find a venue for the event, which draws more than
15,000.

"The Caribbean community is coming together and seeing this as an affront not just to this event, but the community in general," said Tanya Ragbeer, immediate past president of the Greater Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce. "This carnival has been knocked around for too long now, and it needs a home. Unless we have the support of these commissioners, that will never take place."

On Wednesday, Miramar commissioners voted 3-2 against hosting the event, citing the size of the crowd, parking, litter and problems at former sites as insurmountable. Commissioners Winston Barnes and Fitzroy Salesman, the two Caribbean commissioners on the board, voted in favor of holding the event at Miramar Regional Park on Oct. 7.

"I am concerned that this event has a track record where no one has allowed them to come back," Miramar Mayor Lori Moseley said. "When I approved that park, I didn't approve it for events of over 10,000 people."

Salesman said if organizers address the city's concerns, the event could be successful. He urged his fellow commissioners to remember that more than 25 percent of Miramar's population is from the Caribbean.

"There's been no fighting, no shooting, no deaths," Salesman said of the Carnival's track record. "What is it that we're afraid of?"

The controversy surrounding the event is the latest episode in the carnival's short,
tumultuous history in Broward County and highlights a growing problem in South
Florida, where Caribbean festivals are proliferating and cities willing to accommodate them are becoming scarce.

Wexler said she received several complaints about last year's event, held in her district.

"The attendance was far higher than what was planned for. There was not enough
portable toilets and a number of complaints were about people using the woods as
toilets," Wexler said. "People also complained that there were not enough
police."

To control the crowd this year, organizers initially agreed to pre-sell tickets and have no on-site sales. Organizers also agreed to pay the city a fee of $70,000 for 50 police officers, fire rescue permits, clean up and other costs. Organizers had hired their own help for some of those services in the past.

But some city commissioners said they were not convinced the group could keep the crowd to 15,000. They also said the carnival lacked detailed plans on where festival patrons would park.

When asked whether the county could help secure a site for the popular event, Wexler said, "I don't have a problem having the conversation. But right now we don't have a lot of extra money. We had to cut $95 million and are looking at increasing the cost of entry to parks. This is not the year to say we could be a partner."

As Miramar resident Ruby Allison Limere added last minute touches to carnival
costumes on Thursday, she wondered if Miramar officials didn't want the carnival
because of who attends.

"I think there's a prejudice," said the Trinidad native who heads the Major Players Band. "To wait days before and then tell us we can't have carnival there is unethical."

Miramar officials say race never entered their minds.

"This is not a decision based on race or culture," Miramar Commissioner Troy Samuels said. "This is a decision based on the inability of the carnival organizers to manage the operational portion of the event."

Andy Ansola, president of the Broward Carnival Inc., said the event would go on. But he wouldn't provide details.

"There are lots of people out there who don't want the event to happen," he said. "At this point, I don't want to disclose our plans."

Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4536.


The Comments AFTER the article though were scary enough to give me pause:

Oh Brother Commented:
ViVe Honduras..if your so viva honduras, why arent you
there trying to fix that country up instead of here siphoning money from the
economy and no doubt sending it back there, Hey Asha, white people dont unite,
we are just here, living our lives, we dont hyphenate ourselves, we are
american, not honduran-americans, jamaican-americans, trinidad-americans, we are americans and dont need no festivals to be proud of who we are..i dont go around
and say, hi im tom irish-american proud to meet ya..give me a break...And the
ONLY ONLY flag flying on my car and rearview mirror (unlike all you invaders) is
an AMERICAN flag...can you say the same thing, i doubt it.

BAM from Pompano Beach:
Why dont they move it to Jamaica, or Trinidad, or the Bahamas. And everyone who attends, how about staying there! Take your crime and drugs with you. Dont worry ,soon, every commissioner will be from da islands mon, so you'll run everything, and dont have to use the racial copout/excuse.

Joan From Boca
SEND IT BACK TO THE CARRIBEAN -- THEY ARE NOW IN A-M-E-R-I-C-A!
IF THEY WANT TO CELEBRATE THE CARRIBEAN THEN GO BACK THERE!

Matt from Boca
Great post! If you love your Country so much, do us all a favor and go back.

Can you believe this? It gets worse and worse after that. Aren't we all from somewhere else? Is everybody walking around with this prejudice in their hearts?? These comments hurt worse than the alleged race card that is being hinted at in the article. I don't know what more to say. It's just ....well ..awful.

The drama Intensifies.

I just received this via email. If you would like to help please follow the instructions in the Email.

Subject: ADD your name below, city, state and PLS FORWARD

Subject: ADD your name below, city, state and PLS FORWARD
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 12:38:26 -0400

Please help spread the word... As you can see below,Broward Carnival 2007 is at stake. The Carnival has been moved from venue to venue from year to year, and this year, at the last minute, the Carnival has once again been refused a venue.

A very negative article was published in the Miami Herald yesterday, which I am quite sure, did not help the situation. As Caribbean people, friends of Caribbean people, and people who enjoy the benefits of a cultural attraction that brings a huge influx of tourism into Broward County each year, we need to affix your name and residence to this email petition and forward it to all those who care to help us to get Broward County Officials to understand the value of this event.

Why should our businesses and residents in Broward and visitors to Broward have to worry about a potential loss in income over this period, simply due to a lack of cultural understanding? Remember, it is not only the vendors that have something at stake here, what about the thousands of revelers and supporters who have already bought their airline tickets to come down for the event and those who have already paid for their costumes?

Folks, in addition to calling those represented below, please call our Mayor Josephus Eggelletion at 954-357-7009, the City of Miramar 954-602-3114 and the City of Sunrise (Markham Park - where last year's Carnival was held) 954-746-3430. Flood the phone lines! United we stand, divided we fall.

Broward County Officials MUST do something to help us resolve this issue, and they will quite possibly only do something if they come to understand how well Broward Carnival is supported.

The City of has a reported Caribbean population of 26%. How can such a city so casually turn down a festival that represents such a large percentage of their constituents?
After you have affixed your name, please forward this message to your friends and family, and copy andy_ansola@yahoo.com so that he can continue to track our progress.
Thank you for your support

Miami Herald Article