Miami Carnival 2023 Recap: My Experience with GenX Carnival, Fetes, and Jouvert

Miami’s Caribbean/West Indian Carnival is always held during Columbus Day weekend, with events in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas. It is a celebration of Caribbean culture with fetes, panorama, junior carnival, J’ouvert, and mas. I attended my first Miami Carnival this year and I’m excited to share my experience.

GENX Costume Pickup

I chose to play both mas and J’ouvert with GenX. GenX posted their costume pickup schedule. Through their app, I was also able to schedule a pick up time and skip any queues. I collected my costume as soon as I landed at the airport and the process was really smooth. They went through the package to ensure I had all of my costume pieces. At the mas camp, they had things on sale such as stockings and other knick knacks you might need for the road. I really had a seamless process with my costume pickup!

Now, when I unboxed the goodie bag from GenX I was incredibly disappointed. The “goodies” were a compact mirror, tea, under eye patches, and a cup for the road. It really was not exciting or what I’m used to from other mas bands. You can watch my unboxing video below. (I know, I know. Mas is not about the goodie bag, but I rather not have one than receive one and be disappointed!)

@kaiomijm
let’s unbox my #miamicarnival costume package from GEN X MIAMI together! #caribbean #miamicarnival2023 #carnival #trini_tiktoks
♬ Teknique (Bum Bum Bum) – Nailah Blackman & Father Philis & Salty

FETES + EVENTS

We attended a variety of fetes (parties) and events in Miami. I’ll recap them in order. Just note there are so many events for Miami Carnival, so definitely do your research.

Citrus

Absolutely one of my favorite events for Miami Carnival without a doubt! Citrus was a vibeeeee. It was an all-inclusive event in a literal orchard—there were lemon trees! The decor was well-done, as was the food. The drinks stayed flowing, and they even had frozen cocktails to beat the heat. I enjoyed Patrice Roberts’ performance as well. Citrus definitely had a more mature crowd, but I still enjoyed my time.

Big Phat Fish

This was an all-white party with performances by Voice, Nailah Blackman, and Skinny Fabulous. With an underwater theme and cool decor to match, I really enjoyed the vibe of Phat Fish. The crowd was lively, and I liked the DJs. However, toward the end it got very afrobeats/dancehall/reggae heavy. Overall, I would recommend this fete for a Friday night!

J’Ouvert

We played J’ouvert with GenX and I was a little perplexed because it starts at 7am, after daybreak! Anyway, it is a different experience so I went along with it. There were bits of J’ouvert that were really fun, but I thought my truck took too long to pull off, it seemed so crowded, and the sun was beating down HEAVY. I kept losing my friends, it was just overall so chaotic. It is also not held in Miami proper so getting back on the shuttle was a whole situation. I don’t feel the need to play J’Ouvert again in Miami, but we’ll see!

Soca Brainwash

Because of tiredness from J’Ouvert, we made it to Soca Brainwash with only 2 hours to spare and also left a little before it ended, so I don’t think I got to enjoy it to the fullest but the decorations were on point! It really felt like the Mardi Gras theme it was going for. The music was incredibly good and varied, however, the rained stormed on us (but rain does only stop cricket!). I would return and definitely arrive way earlier to enjoy the full set up.

Revive Brunch

This was the one event we did not plan beforehand, but we ended up making it out and it was my favorite event for the week! We were welcomed with unlimited mimosas, followed by a brunch spread that included waffles, fruits, eggs, and passed appetizers. Now, the music was the best for the week as well. I love when DJs play music from ALL the islands, especially at a North American carnival. It feels incredibly representative! I would definitely return to Revive in Miami.

Bacchanal Beach

By the time we arrived at Bacchanal Beach, the tiredness took over me. I could have personally skipped this event if I’m honest. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t stand out to me, and I wish we just stayed longer at Revive because the music was on point there.

My outfit recap

@kaiomijm
miami carnival fitsss 💓✨ #miamicarnival #caribbean #miamicarnival2023 #feteoutfits #ootd
♬ original sound – EX7STENCE™

ON D ROAD

Okay, now time to talk about mas! My one lesson learned is to stop comparing things to Trinidad Carnival—every carnival is in its own league! Now, let’s dive in.

We arrived to the parade grounds just before midday. We had a lot of time for photos, breakfast, and lunch. I was taken aback that both breakfast and lunch were served before we moved off as I was expecting a lunch stop, but it made sense overall. I ordered vegetarian/vegan lunch and immediately regretted my choice as the meal was incredibly unappealing (dumpling, green fig, and ackee). It was bland and unappetizing.

What was frustrating was that the trucks did not move off until 3:30PM!!! We spent hours standing around, losing the initial hype that we arrived with. Though, once the trucks started moving it was only up and up from there.

Gen X had some of the best DJs and the music never got repetitive nor boring. We had Tempa perform, and I think some others that I’m forgetting. For the most part everyone in the band was vibing with each other and there were very few mishaps.

One annoyance was how long we waited to cross the stage and the disorganization when it came to getting in our sections. It would have been nice to have poster markers with each section (if they existed I did not see). It was a lot of confusion for masqueraders to organize themselves. Additionally, this is probably not the fault of the band but the overall carnival itself, but we had to wait hours to cross the stage. It was tiresome and people were getting impatient. The stage crossing was fun but incredibly rushed.

Overall, I’m not 100% sure I would play mas in Miami again, specifically with GenX. I’m not fully opposed but my costume was a significant cost and I don’t think I feel like I received value from the experience. I’m open to trying another band, hopefully at a more affordable price point. For me, I could take that same money and play mas in Grenada or jump for Kadooment in Barbados and the experiences would match up to the cost.

For a more visual breakdown of the experience, make sure to watch the YouTube vlog below!