Carnival this year at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), has echoed the spirit of its origins by incorporating Brazilian flair and scenery at its band launch last night.

Undert the theme UWI Carnival Rio de Janeiro, scores of students from across the Caribbean turned up on Saturday (February 10), for a night filled with excitement as thirteen carnival costumes embodying different aspects of Brazillian culture were revealed for the UWI Road March.

The thirteen costumes are Macaw, Dancing Bones, Samba, Morpho, Saki, Black Gold, Toucan, Amazonia, Copacabana, Golden Parakeet, Brazillian Jewel, Sugar Loaf, Hummingbird/ Brazillian Ruby.

Making a cameo appearance at the event, there were also costume showings from GenXs Jamaica, Xodus and Yardmas.

Speaking with Our Today, Shaqueal Benti, poostgraduate representative of the UWI Mona Guild, said the inspiration behind UWI Carnival this year was derived from a replication of Carnival in Jamaica’s origin as a cultural celebration brought to the country.

Nyoka Manning, project manager at GenXs Jamaica, said, “We’re here because we want to show our inclusivity, we want everyone to know that all our sections cater for everyone and we want to see some of the students here on the road with us.”

“We’ve also partnered with RumStripe to offer 100 t-shirt packages at a reduced rate of US$250 for students to get a chance to take part in the GenXs experience,” she continued.

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Nadine Hylton, brand manager for Smirnoff, shared with Our Today, the company’s reasons for coming on as title sponsors for UWI Carnival Rio de Janeiro.

“UWI Carnival is an iconic part of university life for just about everyone, even for me when I was a student. UWI is more than just the classrooms, every college wants an experience to remember. UWI is also about the friendships, connections and networking you’ve done along the way.”

“Smirnoff was the title sponsor when I first came to UWI Carnival and many of the experiences I had here were built by Smirnoff. We did our research and found that UWI Carnival still stands with what Smirnoff believes in; responsible and inclusive participation.”