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Like every year, the people of Saint-Barth look forward to the Mardi Gras festivities. This Tuesday, March 4, it's time to don your disguises and parade through the streets of Gustavia. For months, the associations have been working on their feathers and choreography to put on the most beautiful of shows. At 2 p.m., the parade gets underway with a dozen floats, including La Pointe en mouvement, Locomotiv (Saint-Martin), Tèt Ansanm, Assco, Ti Ouana Salsa, Oydssey, Ti Saint-Barth, Zion Gym, The Youngz, Les Pineapples Girls and N. I.B. To the beat of the music, they'll make their way through the streets of Gustavia, making various stops to perform their choreographies (Cour Vendôme, Sélect, Cantina, Pif Paf and Crédit Agricole). An “after carnival” is also planned on the quai général de Gaulle until 11 p.m., or even midnight. Under the préau de la capitainerie, the DJs from the various floats will be on stage to perform. The carnival committee is also looking for volunteers to man the bar for the evening.
Free shuttles
Traffic in Gustavia will of course be severely disrupted from 12:30 p.m. until the end of the event. The local authorities recommend that carnival-goers park their vehicles on the Quai Jeanne d'Arc in Public or Saint-Jean, as a free shuttle service will be in operation from 1 p.m. until the end of the event. Access to Gustavia from the dispensary and the Lurin district will be forbidden.
Rise and shine in pyjamas
In keeping with West Indian carnival tradition, Mardi Gras is preceded by the Levé en Pyjama event on Monday evening. With a parade through the streets of Gustavia (in pyjamas, that is), led by the Les Youngz association. The association invites the public to join them at 8 p.m. in front of Pif-Paf.
Ash Wednesday
The festivities come to a close on Wednesday, March 5, with the traditional Brulé Vaval. The procession will leave around 8 p.m. from Select to the sound of drums on Shell Beach. Once the safety barriers have been installed on the beach, the ephemeral sovereign will be consumed by flames. Once again this year, Vaval has been made in Guadeloupe. To find out more about the character he'll be playing this time, join us on Tuesday, March 4 at 2 p.m.!
Traffic and parking during Mardi Gras festivities
Access to Gustavia from the dispensary and the Lurin district will be prohibited on Tuesday, March 04 from 1:00 p.m. for the duration of the Mardi Gras festivities. Access to and traffic in Gustavia and the surrounding area will be restricted.
All floats taking part in the parade must be parked by 1.30pm at the latest on the Quai de Commerce in Public, where the parade will start at 2pm.
The parade route will take in the following streets: Route de sous le Fort (lane 209), rue République, rue du Bord de Mer, rue Samuel Fahlberg, rue Jeanne d'Arc, rue Augustin Cagan, rue de la Presqu'ile, rue Piteå. For the return journey, the parade will take the following streets: rue Jeanne d'Arc, rue Samuel Fahlberg, rue du Bord de Mer, rue République, route de Sous le Fort (lane 209).
Parking will be prohibited from 1:00 p.m. and for the duration of the event on both sides of the road in the streets concerned by the parade.
To facilitate the carnival parade, certain streets and sections of streets will be closed to traffic from 12:30 p.m. for the duration of the event, by means of removable barriers installed by the Collectivité's technical services.
Drivers travelling to Gustavia for the Carnival festivities are strongly advised to park their vehicles on the Jeanne D'Arc quays in Public and in the Saint-Jean district, where a shuttle service will be available.
Free shuttle buses will run between Gustavia and Saint-Jean from 1:00 p.m. until the end of the event, stopping at the following locations: Parking de la République -? Zone industrielle de Public -? Parking U - Caserne des pompiers -? le stade -? The beach parking lot -? return to Gustavia via Public.
