On a bright Monday morning above the weathered grounds of the historic Andrews Factory, the air hummed with a familiar, beloved sound: the iconic whistle of wind through handcrafted kite frames, and the chatter of generations of Bajan kite enthusiasts gathered for the parish of St. Joseph’s annual kite-flying celebration. This beloved cultural ritual traces its origins back centuries to post-harvest festivities held across Barbados’ sugar-growing regions, and today it stands as a living bridge connecting the island’s industrial sugar-producing past to its vibrant, evolving folk heritage. Though official opening ceremonies were pushed back slightly by unforeseen logistics, the delay did nothing to dim the excitement of attendees, many of whom arrived hours before the event kicked off to claim their spots and catch the steady, ideal morning coastal breeze. By the time the celebration hit its peak, dozens of vibrant, creatively designed kites dotted the bright blue sky, dancing and dipping on the wind in a stunning display of local craftsmanship. For nearly all participants, the annual gathering is far more than a casual competition; it is a chance to uphold a centuries-old passion and strengthen community ties that stretch across decades and even generations. Rodney Clarke, a veteran kite-maker fondly known to the local community as “Mauby,” was spotted carefully piecing together a new handmade kite after his first creation of the day was brought down by a sudden gust of wind. Reflecting on a lifelong connection to the craft, Clarke explained that the tradition has grown from small informal post-harvest gatherings to the well-loved community event it is today, adding that the sense of collective joy far outweighs any competitive prizes on offer. “It’s just as fun as we get. It don’t be really no competition… just come and enjoy yourself,” he said. The event draws participants from near and far every year, including many who have left the parish but return annually for the gathering. Rohan Corbin, who has been flying kites since he was 10 years old, makes the trip even though he no longer lives in the community, drawn back by the tradition he has loved for decades. Not far from Corbin, Kerry Marshall, a kite-maker and flyer with 30 years of experience, traveled all the way from his current home in Florida to take part this year. Marshall has watched the craft evolve over his decades in the hobby, from traditional lightweight paper kites to more durable plastic designs that can stand up to stronger coastal winds, but he says the soul of the handcrafted art has stayed the same. “The sound of it, movement… and that’s a craft, you know, making different characters. We went from paper kites to plastic kites so they can last now… it’s just a craft to look awesome,” Marshall explained. Though this marked his first time entering the event’s formal competition, Marshall expressed confidence in his handcrafted entry, saying “I got a lot of confidence so far… it seems very positive.” While seasoned kite enthusiasts showcased their decades of technical skill and handiwork, the event also made space for emerging new talent, including 20-something Treshad Blenman, who has flown kites since he was a child but made his competitive debut this year. When asked about his chances of taking home a prize, Blenman laughed off any pressure, candidly admitting “Not confident. Not confident” as he pulled his damaged kite from the sky, ending his run in the competition early. By the end of the day, the event once again reaffirmed what the community has known for generations: in the heart of St. Joseph, the centuries-old tradition of handcrafted kite flying remains a soaring, living testament to Bajan ingenuity, creativity, and the unbreakable strength of local community bonds that draw people back year after year.
分类： entertainment
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Bumper crowds witness finale to Oistins Fish Festival
This weekend, the centuries-old coastal fishing community of Oistins in Barbados buzzed with electric excitement and friendly competitive spirit as the decades-old annual Oistins Fish Festival wrapped up its multi-day schedule with a dramatic final day of events. Held to honor Barbados’ deep-rooted connection to maritime fishing traditions, the closing day brought together seasoned local competitors and enthusiastic first-time participants, all testing their craft across a lineup of traditional contests that draw crowds of locals and international tourists year after year. Thousands of onlookers packed the village streets and waterfront to cheer on competitors, soaking up the lively atmosphere that has made the festival a beloved cultural staple for generations.
The day of competitions opened with the iconic Tray Balancing contest, an event that nods to Oistins’ long history as a bustling open-air fishing market, where vendors historically carried freshly caught produce and seafood to customers on their heads. Contestants were tasked with traversing a marked obstacle course while holding full wooden trays on their heads, forbidden from using their hands to steady the load. Many spectators gasped as competitors navigated tight turns and uneven ground, with most participants dropping their trays long before reaching the finish line. In the end, Alicia Arthur claimed the top prize, moving through the course with unshakable poise and steady grace that outmatched every other contender and left her rivals far behind.
Next up was the popular egg and spoon race, a lighthearted warm-up for the more rigorous seaside competitions that followed. In a tense final stretch that kept the crowd on their feet, Simran Persad, a Trinidadian student studying at the University of the West Indies, crossed the finish line first to take the win, capping off a nail-biting close that came down to less than a second between the top two runners.
As the crowd shifted down to Oistins’ sun-dappled waterfront for the festival’s core technical competitions, the energy of the day grew even more intense. First on the waterfront schedule was the Dolphin Skinning contest, where the audience fixed their attention on defending champion Tyrone Shorey, who came into the event looking to extend his long winning streak. Despite a determined early challenge from competitor Roy, who pushed an unprecedented fast pace from the start, Shorey’s signature clinical precision and years of experience proved unbeatable. Working at blistering speed with barely a pause to catch his breath, he skinned his catch in a new event record time, successfully retaining his championship title.
The technical competitions concluded with the Flying Fish De-boning contest, a tribute to the specialized skill required to prepare flying fish – Barbados’ national dish – for traditional recipes. This year, seasoned veteran Jackie Norgrove once again outperformed every competitor in the field, securing her fifth career win at the festival, with her first win stretching back to 2012. When asked about her impressive 14-year winning streak, which includes titles in 2012, 2013, 2018, 2025, and now 2026, Norgrove brushed off praise, noting that the task is a regular part of daily life for her. “It’s a normal day-to-day thing, so it just comes naturally now,” she said after the win. “It feels very good to take the title again this year.”
But the undisputed highlight of the entire final day came in the afternoon, with the festival’s legendary Greasy Pole competition – a grueling test of strength, coordination, and collective willpower that pits teams against each other to scale a 30-foot wooden mast heavily coated in grease, with the winning team claiming a prize waiting at the top. This year, competitor Joshua Drayton made history when he successfully reached the summit to claim victory for his team. Speaking after he climbed back down to the cheering crowd, Drayton credited his team’s careful planning rather than individual strength for the win. “Teamwork makes the job work easier,” he explained. “Once you’ve got a good team and understanding, you make the job easy. We didn’t just come with a plan; we executed the plan. The strategy was to get a firm foundation, a strong middle, and let the lightest and shortest man go to the top.”
As golden hour fell over the Oistins jetty and the sun dipped below the Caribbean horizon, the festival closed with live local music, shared feasts of fresh seafood, and community-wide celebrations. For attendees and organizers alike, the 2026 Oistins Fish Festival marked another successful year of honoring the working fishermen and women who have long been the backbone of both Oistins’ community and Barbados’ fishing industry, keeping centuries-old cultural traditions alive for new generations.
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Court orders Patrice Roberts to pay US$
A long-running legal dispute between popular soca recording artist Patrice Roberts and her former management company, Soca Bookings Incorporated, has reached a partial settlement in Trinidad’s High Court, with the artist ordered to pay just over $30,000 in compensation while securing a $9,000 payout in her own counterclaim for unpaid royalties.
The conflict traces back to an oral management agreement struck between the Canadian-based company and Roberts back in February 2015. Under the terms of that informal arrangement, Soca Bookings agreed to provide a full suite of artist management support, including securing performance bookings, building Roberts’ public brand, organizing recording projects and expanding her reach through international promotional campaigns.
When the relationship between the two parties broke down, Soca Bookings launched a legal suit seeking compensation for unpaid management fees for services delivered between 2015 and 2017. While both sides never disputed that a basic contractual arrangement existed, the core point of contention centered on one critical, unwritten term: when were management fees due to be paid? The company insisted fees were payable immediately for all work completed, while Roberts argued fees were only due once the business partnership turned a profit.
In his ruling delivered Tuesday, Justice Robin Mohammed sided with Roberts on that core question, finding the company failed to produce evidence that the profitability threshold for triggering fee payments had ever been met. “The management fees were only payable once the venture became profitable and the Claimant has not established…that that threshold was ever reached,” the judge wrote in his judgment.
Even with that finding, the judge ruled that the principle of quantum meruit— a legal doctrine that requires compensation for work performed where a recipient has benefited from that work— meant Roberts could not walk away without compensating the firm for its services. “She retained all financial benefits… and in those circumstances cannot in equity be permitted to benefit from the Claimant’s work without compensating it,” Justice Mohammed added.
The court ultimately awarded Soca Bookings $22,535 for rendered management services, plus an additional $8,200 to cover verified loans and advances the firm had extended to Roberts during their partnership. That brought the total award to the company to $30,735. A separate claim for $11,600 tied to expenses for a music video shoot was thrown out, after the court ruled the firm had not produced sufficient evidence to prove it had covered those costs.
On the other side of the dispute, Roberts won her counterclaim alleging that Soca Bookings had collected digital streaming and sales royalties on her behalf but never passed those earnings to her. Trial evidence contradicted the company’s earlier denials that it had received the funds, and with no complete formal financial records available to calculate the exact amount owed, the court approved $9,000 as the most reasonable estimate of the unpaid proceeds, awarding that sum to Roberts.
Both parties were also awarded pre-judgment interest and legal costs. Justice Mohammed ruled that the opposing awards could be set off against one another, resulting in a net payment from Roberts to her former management of $25,104.12, plus TT$26,983.71 in cost awards.
Soca Bookings was represented in court by attorneys Tara Thompson, Gideon McMaster and Joel Roper, while Roberts was represented by Sterling John and Shelly Clarke.
In closing the case, Justice Mohammed used the ruling to highlight a widespread risk in the entertainment industry: the dangers of relying on unwritten, informal business agreements. The judge noted that the entire costly and time-consuming dispute could almost certainly have been avoided if the two sides had formalized their agreement with a clear, signed written contract before starting their working relationship.
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Fish Festival a resounding success, says organisers
The 2026 iteration of the beloved Oistins Fish Festival has wrapped up, and event organizers are celebrating it as a marked success, citing tangible improvements across multiple areas of operation compared to previous years. In a closing statement following the conclusion of the multi-day festivities, Israel Mallett, co-chair of the festival organizing committee, shared his positive assessment of this year’s event, highlighting upgrades to both pre-event preparation and on-the-ground execution. Among the most notable advances was a streamlined onboarding and setup process for participating vendors, which ran far more efficiently than in prior editions. Most importantly, the entire festival unfolded with almost no major disruptions or safety incidents, a key milestone for the community-focused gathering.
Mallett noted that only one minor issue arose over the course of the event: a small vehicle collision that resulted in no injuries to attendees or staff, an outcome the committee counts as a win for event safety. That said, organizers did not dismiss constructive feedback from the public, which included observations that the festival’s atmosphere felt slower or less energetic than in past years at certain points. Rather than dismissing these critiques, Mallett connected the subdued energy to broader economic headwinds currently impacting the country, framing the public input as a valuable asset for future planning. He emphasized that the organizing committee actively welcomes all forms of feedback, as it gives the team clear areas to refine and improve for coming editions of the event.
“We love criticism. We like to hear from people what their thoughts are, what their feedback is, because those are things that we look to internalise and implement and work on for the years to come,” Mallett explained.
The co-chair also addressed growing concerns from participating vendors, who have reported declining sales and shrinking profit margins at the festival in recent years. While Mallett confirmed that the organizing committee takes full responsibility for core marketing and promotion of the event to drive attendance, he stressed that driving visitor engagement and sales is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders: event organizers, local fisherfolk, and vendors themselves. He added that the team adopted a new proactive approach to resolving vendor issues in real time this year, pointing to one example where organizers leveraged social media to amplify a struggling vendor’s visibility and attract more foot traffic during a slow period.
“One of the things we try to do is to work with the vendors. If there’s an issue that we can resolve on the spot, we try to resolve that issue on the spot and if it’s something we can’t resolve on the spot, we take it into our post-mortem and planning,” Mallett said.
Looking back on his tenure leading the festival’s organizing team, Mallett reflected that his time in the role has been a period of extraordinary personal and professional growth. When he first took on the leadership position, he brought little prior experience planning large-scale community events, but he noted that his outsider perspective and fresh approach have ultimately been an asset to the long-running festival. “It’s been a real experience of growth coming into it,” he said. “I have met a lot of great people through the vendors, the community, the fisher folk… it has been a really expanding experience for me.”
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Zulu promises elevated experience for Crop Oper
As one of the most anticipated groups taking part in this year’s Crop Over festival, Zulu International is celebrating a major milestone: a full decade of participating in the iconic Caribbean cultural celebration. To mark this 10-year journey, the band has announced that it will pull out all the stops this season to deliver what leadership calls the most authentic, immersive Crop Over experience in the group’s history.
The promise was made public by Nadesha Fagan, Zulu International’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, during a pair of landmark events held Sunday: the official reveal of the band’s 2024 festival costumes, and the first edition of *Toast*, the group’s new pre-festival garden party. Fagan framed the 10-year anniversary as a point of deep pride for the entire organization, reflecting on how the band grew from a small, ambitious idea into a staple of the annual Crop Over lineup.
“What started as a simple vision a decade ago has grown into a band widely recognized for its infectious energy, vibrant atmosphere, and commitment to honoring the core of what Crop Over is all about,” Fagan shared during the event. “Celebrating 10 years this season is a really proud moment for every member of the Zulu International family.”
This year’s official festival theme for the band is “New Dawn”, a title Fagan says carries layered meaning that extends beyond the group’s own milestone. The theme is designed to represent Zulu International’s decade of steady growth, while also mirroring the broader evolution of Crop Over and Caribbean festival culture as a whole, she explained.
“New Dawn stands for growth, evolution, and stepping into a bold new era — that’s true for Zulu, but it’s also true for our culture that we celebrate every year,” Fagan noted. “This moment feels like the perfect time to embrace that change together.”
For festival goers joining Zulu International on the road this season, the band has planned widespread upgrades that elevate every part of the experience, from the design of the celebration costumes to on-the-ground service and the overall crowd atmosphere. Fagan emphasized that the entire team has put in extra work to make the 10th anniversary year unforgettable for all participants, regardless of whether they are first-time revelers or long-time Zulu members.
“Revelers can expect an elevated experience across every single area — stunning hand-designed costumes, improved customer service, and an unmatched, energetic road vibe that you can’t find anywhere else,” Fagan said. “We’re going all out to make this year one for the history books. Whether it’s your first time marching with Zulu or you’ve been part of our journey for years, Zulu is absolutely the place to be this Crop Over.”
The 2024 Zulu International band will be split into five distinct costume sections for this year’s festival: Diamonds, Kalinago, Emerald, Zulu, and Flora, each with its own unique visual design and thematic styling to align with the overarching “New Dawn” theme.
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Soca artiste Patrice Roberts ordered to pay US$30,000 to Canadian entertainment company
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – A long-running legal disagreement between internationally recognized Soca performer Patrice Roberts and her former Canadian management firm has concluded with a binding ruling from the Trinidad and Tobago High Court, ordering the entertainer to compensate the company for professional services rendered during her two-year representation.
The case centered on an informal oral management contract struck between Roberts, 40, and Ontario-based agency Soca Bookings Incorporated in February 2015. Under the terms of the unwritten deal, the company committed to delivering end-to-end career management support, spanning international performance bookings, brand development, studio recording coordination, and global promotional outreach to expand Roberts’ audience outside the Caribbean.
While both parties never disputed that a working agreement existed, key contractual details remained ambiguous, most critically the timeline for management fee payments. Soca Bookings argued fees were due immediately upon provision of services, while Roberts maintained all compensation would be deferred until the business partnership turned a profit.
Delivering the final judgment, Justice Robin Mohammed sided with Roberts’ account of the payment terms, finding the management firm failed to provide evidence that the profitability threshold had ever been met. Even so, the judge ruled that equity demanded Roberts compensate the company for the tangible work and financial support it provided to advance her career. He awarded Soca Bookings US$35,472, a sum that covers both reasonable compensation for the firm’s services and cash advances the company issued on Roberts’ behalf between 2015 and 2017, plus accrued interest.
The ruling also offset this award with a separate sum owed to Roberts: the court ruled the entertainer was entitled to US$10,367.88 plus interest, representing digital music sales revenue the firm collected on her behalf during the management period that it had not turned over. A separate US$11,600 claim tied to expenses for a music video production was thrown out entirely, after justices found the company provided no credible proof it had actually incurred that cost.
After accounting for mutual awards of pre-judgment interest and legal costs that the judge ordered can be set off against one another, the final net sum Roberts must pay amounts to roughly US$25,104.12 plus TT$26,983.71 in cost assessments.
In closing remarks accompanying the ruling, Justice Mohammed issued a stark warning to entertainers and industry professionals about the pitfalls of informal, unwritten contracts in the entertainment space. He noted that the entire costly and time-consuming legal dispute could have been completely avoided if the two sides had formalized their arrangement in a written, signed contract that clearly outlined all core terms and expectations.
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Jamaican artist takes Tricia Handmade global
For Jamaican artist Tricia Gordon-Johnston, a 12-year journey starting with self-directed experimentation in handmade jewellery has culminated in a landmark international partnership, bringing her distinct minimalist design vision to a global stage. The founder of independent brand Tricia Handmade is now working alongside Italy-based fine jewellery label MindMink by Octo Jewels, combining the company’s lab-grown diamond expertise with Gordon-Johnston’s signature handcrafted approach.
Gordon-Johnston shared the details of the new collaboration in an interview with *Observer Online*, noting that the partnership officially launched in late 2023. Under the terms of the joint project, MindMink by Octo Jewels produces ethically grown lab diamonds, while Gordon-Johnston leads all original design and hand-finishing of the finished jewellery pieces.
The brand’s origins stretch back to a side creative pursuit Gordon-Johnston took up while pursuing formal fine arts training in painting at Jamaica’s Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Though her academic program centered on painting, the artist’s complementary coursework in ceramics and printmaking gave her a broad technical foundation that continues to shape her multi-disciplinary practice today.
A self-taught jeweller, Gordon-Johnston launched her brand by selling small runs of handmade pieces at local Kingston boutique Gayshel, setting up shop every Saturday to connect directly with customers. Over more than a decade, she steadily grew her reputation and audience, building a distinct brand identity defined by handcrafted quality and understated minimalist aesthetics. In recent years, she has expanded her practice to return to her roots in painting and pick up ceramics again, growing her creative portfolio beyond jewellery.
Today, her range of original work includes fine jewellery, hand-sculpted ceramic masks, original paintings, and experimental work in clothing and graphic design. Her design aesthetic draws heavily on geometric shapes—triangles, squares, and circles are recurring motifs that echo tribal art traditions. Her recently popular ceramic masks have drawn comparisons to pre-Columbian Taino artistic traditions, a connection that ties her work back to the layered cultural history of Jamaica, even as she retains her minimalist core.
Gordon-Johnston’s lifelong passion for art has defied conventional expectations: she grew up in a household of accountants, with no family background in creative practice, but art has been a core part of her identity from childhood. She credits a trio of influential Jamaican artistic mentors—Omari Ra, Petrona Morrison, and Norma Harroch—for shaping her creative perspective and supporting her career growth. Over the course of her career, she has shown her work in exhibitions at leading institutions including the National Gallery of Jamaica, as well as international shows in Florida.
Currently, Gordon-Johnston sells her full range of handmade work every Saturday at Mutambo Indigenous, a local retailer focused on Jamaican craft, and regularly participates in pop-up and cultural events across the island to share her work with new audiences.
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Rockhouse announces Rousseau Sisters as new culinary directors
One of Jamaica’s most celebrated fine dining destinations, Negril’s Rockhouse Restaurant, has announced a major new creative leadership appointment: Kingston-based culinary trailblazers Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau, globally known as the Rousseau Sisters, will step into the role of new culinary directors. The sibling duo, who have built their reputation on centering Jamaican food heritage and cultural storytelling, is set to launch their groundbreaking new culinary program in the first week of June 2026, according to an official press statement from the restaurant.
The upcoming launch will introduce a fully reimagined menu and a refreshed brand identity for Rockhouse Restaurant, one that leans into bold distinctly Caribbean flavors while weaving in subtle Mediterranean influences. Crucially, the reboot will remain faithful to the venue’s iconic rebellious spirit and decades-long legacy that has made it a favorite among locals and international travelers alike.
To mark the new era for the restaurant, a special two-day launch celebration has been scheduled for June 5 and 6, 2026, as a centerpiece of the Rockhouse Foundation’s Coastal Culinary Weekend hosted at Rockhouse Hotel within Skylark Negril Beach Resort. The immersive weekend event will bring together a star-studded lineup of Caribbean culinary talent beyond the Rousseau Sisters, including Andre Fowles, Miss Lily’s culinary director and published cookbook author, and India Doris, recipient of the MICHELIN Young Chef Award. Attendees will enjoy a curated schedule of exclusive dinner parties, guided tours of local food and cultural sites, and intimate panel conversations that shine a spotlight on the depth and diversity of Jamaican cuisine and cultural heritage.
In a move that honors the venue’s existing talent, the Rousseau Sisters will not be replacing the current kitchen leadership. They will partner closely with Rockhouse Restaurant’s beloved executive chef Jermaine “Bagga” Forrester and his entire longstanding culinary team to bring the new vision to life.
For years, the Rousseau Sisters have been recognized as leading voices in preserving Jamaica’s culinary stories and cultural traditions through their work with the island’s foodways and historic hospitality venues. They have cemented their status as leading authorities on Caribbean cuisine and heritage, having launched fan-favorite dining concepts including Two Sisters Jamaica and the now-closed Summerhouse, both located in the scenic parish of St Ann.
Per the official release, their collaborative partnership with Forrester and his team will leverage the Sisters’ signature culinary style: elevated yet accessible to all diners. They will center the core elements that have defined Jamaican cooking for generations — warm complex spices, signature smoked flavors, and fresh locally sourced ingredients — while reinterpreting these staples through creative new techniques and unexpected combinations that promise to excite both returning guests and first-time visitors.
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Chronic Law and Pimpdon Records climb to number 4 on US itunes reggae chart
Jamaican dancehall recording artist Chronic Law and independent label Pimpdon Records are currently celebrating a breakout commercial win, with their collaborative new single skyrocketing to the number 4 spot on the prestigious United States iTunes Reggae Singles Chart in less than a fortnight following its official release.
Titled *Millionaire Badness*, the track has earned a spot among reggae and dancehall’s most iconic names on the chart, sitting just behind three higher-ranking releases from legends: the late pioneering reggae icon Bob Marley, diamond-certified entertainer Shaggy, and the self-proclaimed dancehall queen Spice. For Pimpdon Records founder and lead producer Lloyd Thompson, the single’s rapid success has come as no shock.
In a recent statement reflecting on the achievement, Thompson explained that his production approach centers on crafting concepts that resonate deeply with audiences, touching on themes that listeners either connect with personally or aspire to experience. “I’m grateful for all the support from fans and industry peers, but I wasn’t surprised by how quickly this track caught on because the musical quality speaks for itself,” he said. “When I’m working on new music, my goal is always to deliver a final product that matches or exceeds the standard of anything else out right now.”
Beyond the single’s chart performance, the official music video accompanying *Millionaire Badness* has also racked up impressive streaming numbers: more than 330,000 views on YouTube in just 11 days. Thompson added that conversation around the track has exploded across social media platforms, with organic chatter keeping the single in front of growing audiences.
“Every time I scroll through my feeds right now, I see people talking about the track. It’s already blowing up, and I truly believe it’s only going to keep gaining momentum from here,” Thompson said. “I have to thank every single fan who has streamed, shared, and supported the project.”
This chart-topping release is far from Pimpdon Records’ first collaboration with established dancehall and reggae talent. The label has previously partnered with a range of popular acts including Vershon, Top Banks, 1 Biggs Don, Xcappe, and Fido on past projects, building a reputation for releasing high-energy, commercially successful dancehall content.
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Express Fitness named official fitness partner for Xodus Carnival’s “OlympiX” 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s leading fitness network Express Fitness has locked in an official partnership with Xodus Carnival to support the 2026 edition of the beloved cultural celebration, which will carry the theme “OlympiX”.
In an official public statement, Express Fitness outlined that as the event’s exclusive official gym partner, the brand has already rolled out a full suite of support for participating masqueraders gearing up for Carnival’s iconic road parade. These resources include custom-designed specialized fitness classes, carefully curated wellness programming, and a range of interactive community engagement activities.
All offerings are tailored to help Carnival revellers build the strength, boost self-confidence, and develop the physical stamina required to keep up with the high-energy demands of Jamaica’s annual soca season.
Kandice Moncrieffe, Group Marketing Manager at Norbrook Equity Partners — Express Fitness’s parent company — framed the collaboration as a natural alignment of shared values. “Carnival stands as one of Jamaica’s most vibrant, dynamic, and physically taxing cultural events,” Moncrieffe explained. “With this year’s ‘OlympiX’ theme, we could not be more excited to help revellers unlock their inner strength, boost their endurance, and step onto the parade route feeling their most confident selves.”
Through this new partnership, participants gain access to a more intentional, holistic approach to Carnival preparation that integrates physical training, community connection, and high-energy fun. From thematically aligned workout sessions to exclusive pop-up social events and ongoing “road to Carnival” fitness challenges, Express Fitness has become a core part of transforming how masqueraders train, connect with fellow participants, and build excitement in the weeks leading up to the big event.
Xodus Carnival has also expressed clear enthusiasm for the collaboration, emphasizing the strong synergy between the two Jamaican brands and the elevated experience the partnership will deliver to attendees. Kamal Bankay, Executive Chairman of Dream Entertainment Ltd, Xodus Carnival’s parent company, noted that the partnership advances the brand’s longstanding mission. “Xodus has always prioritized delivering a premium, immersive Carnival experience for all participants, and this collaboration with Express Fitness pushes that commitment even further,” Bankay shared. “Our ‘OlympiX’ theme encourages masqueraders to embrace strength, discipline, and peak performance — core values that align perfectly with Express Fitness’s mission. Together, we are reimagining what it truly means to be fully road ready for Carnival.”
The two organizations are jointly calling on Jamaicans across the country to approach their 2026 Carnival preparation with intentional purpose, and step onto the parade route equipped with the strength, confidence, and unrivaled energy to make this year’s celebration unforgettable.