« Mapusa Carnival 2010 »

The Mapusa Carnival was a last minute idea last year and everything was sorted within a couple of days. This year however, a little more thought was put into the float. In June Ali suddenly wanted to know about Michael Jackson and within 24 hours Michael Jackson sadly died, this seemed rather spooky for the volunteers! Since then Ali has liked everything to do with Michael Jackson and convinced us all that a tribute to him should be the theme for this years carnival. Taking his lead we sourced some Michael Jackson outfits (thanks to Guy and Jane) and started organising the dancing and props. As with most things time started to run out and the last few days saw us frantically getting everything together. A couple of large speakers were organised and a 'coat' for the van was stitched with 'Michael Jackson - Thriller" written on it in paint and glitter, we cut some eyes in the front so Ali could see where he was going and made them drip with blood...

We had 2 groups of children, one group dressed as Michael Jackson and the 2nd group dressed up as zombies. Both groups learned their dance moves with the help of the, now legendary volunteer "Jack", the Duracell bunny. All the volunteers and staff did their part, making costumes, putting on face paint and being involved in the carnival.

We patiently waited at the start line for the go and then cranked up the music and danced the afternoon away to Michael Jackson's hits including the classic thriller. As you can see from some of the photos, the children loved it and stunned the audience with their moves.

We would like to thank the children, Jack and all the volunteers and staff who made the day one definitely to remember..