By Richard Duckett, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — When Jennifer J. Gaskin moved to Worcester from the Boston area a few years ago, “People would say, ‘How come Worcester doesn’t have a carnival?’ ” she recalled.

As in a Caribbean carnival. Carnivals are major cultural events in Caribbean countries, and the tradition has traveled with people in their lives away from the islands.

Boston and Cambridge Caribbean carnivals are large events attracting thousands of people each year, said Mrs. Gaskin, who is originally from the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Worcester is known for an array of ethnic festivals and parades celebrating African, Albanian, Asian, Greek, Irish, Italian and Latin American cultures, among others, in an ethnically diverse city. But Mrs. Gaskin said Worcester has never had a Caribbean-style carnival, despite having a growing Caribbean population.

Until now.

Beginning at noon Sunday, Aug. 25, the first Worcester Caribbean Carnival will step out. The carnival will include a parade starting on Chandler Street in front of Foley Stadium, turning onto Park Avenue, and ending at Institute Park on Salisbury Street.

At Institute Park there will be musical performances — including soca, calypso, reggae and rhythm and blues — from noon to 5 p.m., along with children’s activities, food vendors and artisans. The event is free.

The carnival will be presented by the Worcester Caribbean American Carnival Association, which was formed last year after Mrs. Gaskin put out messages on Facebook, e-mail and elsewhere trying to gauge interest in having a Worcester Caribbean carnival. In the process, she found members of Worcester’s Caribbean community.

“To feel at home you have to feel you have a community. Now we’ve met,” she said.

Cherisa C. Hernandez and Mrs. Gaskin live “just down the street,” from each other, Ms. Hernandez said, but they had never met until Ms. Hernandez decided to get involved with the association. She is now carnival association’s treasurer; Mrs. Gaskin is the president.

Ms. Hernandez is originally from Boston but is of Trinidad and Tobago heritage and lived in the country for while. She has lived in Worcester two years, and teaches math at South High Community School.

Initially, “I wasn’t aware how big the (Caribbean) community is in Worcester,” she said.

“I couldn’t quantify it with a number, but there is a well-established community here” said Mrs. Gaskin, who works in the pharmacy industry. “There’s a very large Jamaican community in Worcester, but also from all over (the Caribbean).”

Word about the carnival is still getting out among the Caribbean diaspora here.

The new association has about a dozen active organizers. It will have its own band in the parade, consisting of about 25 participants. At least that was the estimate when Mrs. Gaskin and Ms. Hernandez were being interviewed last week.

“It will probably grow,” Mrs. Hernandez said. People in the parade could number from 200 to 600 or more, with bands coming in from Boston.

The association has been putting on events recently that have helped create interest in the carnival, including a costume party at Three G’s Sportsbar on Millbury Street. “People now know that it is really happening and people are buzzing about it,” Ms. Hernandez said.

A Caribbean carnival has its own distinct buzz. “When we speak of carnival it’s not in the context of what you’d typically see in amusement rides and things like that. It’s more like a festive parade,” Mrs. Gaskin said.

Different groups have bands in the parade, which people can join up with, and choose themes such as “Gods & Goddeses” or “Good vs. Evil”. Participants create costumes with specially chosen colors, often with beads and feathers, called “mas” to match the theme. Those wearing costumes are called “masqueraders,” said Ms. Hernandez.

The carnival association’s band has the theme “We Are Carnival.”

“We tried to keep it simple. We’re trying to represent all of the Caribbean, because every country in the Caribbean has its own carnival,” said Mrs. Gaskin.

The association’s costume colors are white, blue and silver. “You can find at least one of those colors in all of the Caribbean flags,” she said.

When the bands reach Institute Park, a panel of judges will decide which one is “Band of the Year.” Meanwhile there should be fun and sun at the park with performers including KingiLabash (reggae and cross-genre) and Ms. Diamond (soca).

If it rains, the carnival will go on. “We do not have a rain date. Traditionally, we do carnival in hurricanes,” Mrs. Gaskin said.

The history and traditions of Caribbean carnivals are tied directly to “being descendants of African slaves,” Ms. Hernandez said. By the early 19th century, some 6 million slaves had been brought to the Caribbean. “You can see the carnivals at all the major stops in the slave trade,” she said.

Many carnivals have strong religious connotations, often being held right before Lent. The spirit of carnival is also “to release whatever you have to worry about — bills, whatever,” Mrs. Gaskin said. “You can worry about them the next day.”

Organizers plan to have the carnival as an annual event in Worcester. “We expect that it will grow as the years go by,” Ms. Hernandez said. “We want everyone to come and enjoy. When people share traditions and culture, that’s how we learn and that’s how we grow.”

PHOTO: Worcester resident Amerie Gaskin, 3, gets her costume adjusted by her father, Daniel Gaskin of Worcester, during a carnival preview July 27 at Three G’s Sportsbar on Millbury Street. The first Worcester Caribbean Carnival will be Aug. 25.

(JOHN FERRARONE)

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