Photos by Neil B.

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For the second year in a row, Trini Jungle Juice landed in Tampa Florida, to bring you exclusive coverage of the annual Tampa Bay Carnival. In 2007, president of Tampa Carnival Committee, George Carrington, told us that for 2008 he will be doing bigger and better things. Well yuh know dey say, "True talk ... No lie." Tampa Bay Carnival 2008 got off to a great start on Saturday June 14th at the Vinoy Park located Downtown St. Petersburg.

With a beautiful location - situated right on the beach front, Vinoy Park was the perfect place to hold the 16th Annual Carnival Celebration. Trust us when we tell yuh ... niceness. With both food and craft vendors in their multitudes, the flow of traffic from the food stalls, to the vendors, to the stage-front was almost automatic. And in between everything, steel pan enthusiasts could find the likes of Joumberie, New Generation Steel, Power Stars, Spirit of Steel and the Tamboo Bamboo Rhythm Section all in full swing. And believe it or not, this was just the beginning of the evening folks!!

As the crowd started to flow steadily through the gates, the buzz in the crowd was the anticipation of Bermuda's Reggae sensation Collie Buddz and Puerto Rican Reggaeton Superstar Ivy Queen, both headlining today's concert. The Impulse Band and Latin League started the evening performances in fine style; pulling the crowd and having them settle in front the stage.

Collie Buddz aka Mr. Harper took to the stage around 7:15pm, much to the delight of the couple thousand patrons on hand. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a black sports blazer, the Bermudan native gave a solid performance. He had the people jumping to his break out tune "Come Around". And even though there were a bit of problems with the microphones (and Collie Buddz's DJ did his best to let the audience know of his dissatisfaction), not even the black skies that were threatening above could have stopped him from delighting the Vinoy Park crowd. Much respect Collie, keep up the good work!

By 8:30pm, the headline act, Ivy Queen was getting ready to take to the stage with her extremely beautiful dancers. Ivy Queen broke free onto the stage after being hidden in the shadows of her bouncer for most of the night. She was no different than most entertainers, with the stage proving to be their 'let loose' space .... so to speak.

Although some of the crowd left with anticipation of rain, the die hard Ivy Queen fans (mainly Puerto Ricans), did not make any attempt to give up on their famed singer. Ivy Queen gave a fantastic performance, also showing her versatility by treating patrons to not only Reggaeton, but to Hip Hop and R&B selections as well. A sea of flags at any event is usually a great sign, and to see a Puerto Rican flag tacked onto a tree limb, being handed to Ivy Queen from an over zealous Puerto Rican fan, was a sight to see. You just had to be there!

As her performance came to an end, Ivy Queen had a bit of a dance-off on stage between a Hatian and Puerto Rican girl. Some people might have called it a tie, but the Puerto Rican dancer stole the spotlight. With an appreciative crowd in the forefront, Ivy Queen and her dancers (wow), left the stage a hit! Before making our way out, we got a chance to catch up with the Reggaeton Sensation in her RV. Stay tuned for Panidad's "5 Minutes With Ivy Queen" in our new "5 Minutes With" column.

Our next stop, Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival Fete @ the Convention Center...

JoyJuice, on ah another beat!

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Related Galleries
Tampa Bay Carnival 2008 Coverage
Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival (2007)