PHILIPSBURG:--- It is that time of year when we celebrate one of the largest cultural festivals in our calendar of activities. Each year, we look forward to this celebration, which showcases our culture, creativity, diverse foods and drinks, and is one of the economic drivers within our community—all this amidst the usual “bacchanal” one associates with Carnival. It is a shared culture within our region; however, St. Maarten Carnival is always special.
As Prime Minister and elected member of Parliament of St. Maarten, I would like to address the people and visitors of Sweet St. Maarten.
Carnival is a time to come together to enjoy music, eating, drinking, socializing, and mostly creating. It is a time for our orange economy to shine. Our bands, musicians, songwriters, singers, calypsonians, and soca artists create new rhythms and catchy lyrics to make us jam, dance, chip, and sway. The double entendre and clever wit of the calypso, our traditional social commentary, make us laugh or even give us pause to ponder and reflect.
It is a time for costume and float designers to ply their craft, combining fabrics, beads, wire, colors, textures, and natural and recycled materials to create designs to depict what their imagination conjures and the revelers demand. Talent is displayed by young and old, whether in pageantry, calypso and soca competitions, road marches, or band clashes. Many look forward to the creativity of our cultural dishes and drinks, where the taste buds are tempted, and you can find whatever you desire during the weeks of fettin’.
Today, as this journey commences, let us pledge to be safe amid the festivities. Let us look out for one another and have good, clean fun. I implore parents to ensure the safety of their children throughout these proceedings by ensuring proper child care when they venture out and ensuring that their underage children are not unsupervised in public or attending adult-oriented shows. Our laws specifically mention 15 years and older, and as parents, you have to ensure they don’t attend. Promoters and event hosts are also encouraged to do their due diligence to safeguard the innocence of our youth for as long as possible (NO underage drinking) while ensuring proper security and safety protocols aimed at the prevention of any situation that could endanger the lives of others.

Let us ensure that our children looking on will want to emulate the behavior they see. Let us take responsibility for the types of shows we promote and move away from the exploitation of especially women, in how we write, produce, and create the music. Women are not sex objects, and several have complained about the types of artists/music that are being promoted. While many have been conditioned to think less is best, I hope creativity will be at its highest this year in ways that edify us as a community and ensure the longevity and sustainability of the development of our people. The key is the safeguarding of our culture and promoting and rewarding our creativity. The sneak peeks thus far scream culture, color, and splendor.
St. Maarten has a lot to offer, and it is only by working together as has been mentioned in various meetings that this can be achieved to ensure safety & security for all in a well-organized, well supported festivities where the spirit of Carnival as was envisioned by our forefathers will continue to thrive.
All stakeholders must come together to ensure that our main cultural festival maintains its unique nature while ensuring our cultural heritage is revered. This is not about any one person or entity but about St. Maarten Carnival, which belongs to the people of St. Maarten. Amidst all the complaints over the years, let us seriously come together to resolve the long-standing challenges and work towards a more symbiotic relationship in the interest of all concerned.
I wish all stakeholders, who have been working for months, weeks, and especially the last few days, to prepare for the start of our Carnival, much success in the execution of their goals. To the booth holders, promoters, musicians, artists, dancers, singers, stilt walkers, bands, sound and light technicians, photographers, videographers, media specialists, poets, chefs, cooks, bartenders, grillmen, and all others working behind the scenes to create the magic that is carnival, I wish you much success.
To the people of St. Maarten, go out and enjoy the festivities safely. Support the local entrepreneurs selling their specialty foods and drinks. Enjoy the many cultural and musical shows which have been planned to meet the needs of our very diverse community. Designate a driver to avoid unnecessary accidents. I trust our parades will continue showcasing our creative talents with class and style.
Thanks in advance to Government employees, civil servants who toil yearly to ensure that the St. Maarten Carnival is a success - our police officers, fire fighters, inspectors in various departments, public works who work diligently before, during and after all events to ensure the proper procedures are followed and that all are compliant with the countries laws and regulations.
A happy, safe, and incident-free carnival is wished to one and all!

Prime Minister Silveria E. Jacobs