“You?! In the Par-ade?!”
People told me – out of concern, I’m sure – about the sun, the chronically late start, the long day, and a heap of other things they thought would make the parade too hard, too hot or just not a very good time.
But they needn’t have worried, because I had a blast. Here’s how you can too:
The setup
Have a comfortable place to get ready close to the parade start area. In our case, the spot was my Road Reef apartment, where everyone in the relatively small troupe had access to a fridge, mirror, and bathroom.
Folks were able to get dressed and beautified without having to bake in the sun or compete for the limited patches of shade between Prospect Reef and MacNamara.
Parade line-up time pushed back by half an hour?
No problem, I just had an energy drink and put on another layer of glitter. It also gave us a convenient spot to walk through our routine a couple more times to iron out one lingering rough patch.
What to wear
From shoes to feathers, wear something comfortable.
Our troupe decided to go with costumes purchased in Tortola from Jennings Shop in East End. Not only did we get to try them on, we also had time to get them professionally altered, reinforced, or adjusted as needed to prevent any “wardrobe malfunctions.”
Footwear is especially critical — I sported my super-comfy Nike force sneakers, and our troupe chose flats across the board. Experienced parade performers had advised us to coat our feet in Vaseline before putting our shoes on, which sounds gross, but did prevent me from getting blisters.
A note for my fellow fair-skinned people: Sunscreen is an absolute necessity.
I used the spray-on kind, which meant I could have all the SPF without disrupting my glitter. As it says on the bottle, I reapplied after a couple of hours and was happy not to be sunburned at the end of the day.
Consumables
Eat food and drink water. This might sound obvious, but hydration is no joke in the Virgin Islands sun, so having plenty of water before and during the parade is key to having a pleasant day.
I heard some chatter ahead of time from participants worried that if they drank water, they’d need to take more bathroom breaks. But I felt like I drank water at every opportunity throughout the day, and yet from about 2 p.m. when we were asked to finally line up all the way until about 6 p.m. when I arrived back at my house, I never had to use the restroom.
Some parade revellers might make do with beer or rum, but combined with a day in the sun, that’s a recipe for a hot mess. Limit yourself to a shot or two of liquid courage, but don’t let too much alcohol spoil your day.
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and on the day of a parade, it might be your only meal, so make it count.
Who to take
Bring your friends. Your really fun, high-energy friends are the people you need to recruit to join you in the parade if you’re going to have a good time.
Since about 20 people were gathered around my apartment, when one neighbour stopped by, she was bound to be curious, and when invited, last minute though it was, she agreed to don a BVI HIV/AIDS Foundation t-shirt and join in, and she was a great addition to the group.
Whether it’s a dance partner or someone to trade jokes with while you wait around on a float for things to get moving, having a group of fun people around you makes the whole day a party.
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