The winners of the Mr. and Miss. Teenage Pageant and the Queen of Carnival will be used to further promote the rest of the carnival festivities which run from July 22^nd to August 8^th.

For the first time, both shows will be held as part of pre-carnival events moving it outside the regular week of rivalry and points.

Festivals Minister Daryl Mathew explains the rationale noting that both winners will move on to become the official faces of the annual summer festival.

“What we are also doing is giving our Mr. and Miss Teenage and our Queen of Carnival the opportunity to be the face of the festival so, having selected the winners the week prior when we go into a carnival for our parade, we market these persons as the face of carnival and other events this gives them a bigger picture”.

The Teenage Pageant will be held on July 22^nd while the Queen of Carnival Competition is slated for July 23^rd.

Fourteen young people from ten secondary schools are participating in the Teenage Pageant and 8 females will vie for the title of Queen.

The winner will go on to represent Antigua and Barbuda in the Jaycees Caribbean Queen Show.

The minister also revealed that “Calypsonians who released their music by a particular point in time will be reimbursed a particular amount for the studio time and so on”.

Looking ahead to next year he said the Ministry of Creative Industries has partnered with the Ministry of Tourism and the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority to market the festival and a lot will be happening going forward into 2024.

“When we market Antigua and Barbuda as the place for carnival it is part of that marketing effect so when they go to the World Travel Market, Europe, and North America they can also push carnival as an activity”.