From February 23 to 25, the Caribbean Carnival was held in Montpellier. A way to discover Caribbean culture in France. Brut was there and followed the group PomPom C’chann.
“It’s important for us to be here today, because we show the West Indian culture, the culture of the West Indies.” The streets of Montpellier saw the Caribbean carnival parade from February 23 to 25. The opportunity for the West Indians to show their culture, especially on the occasion of the “empty”, an important stage of the festivities. Brut followed the collective PomPom C’chann during the celebrations.
“For me, the void is a gathering. We are together, we parade, we tumble, we release the pressure, we run, we jump, we shout. The emptied is, in translation, fun”, thinks Célia, head of the dance section of the PomPom C’chann association. With the other members of the association, they prepare themselves: from make-up, to hair, to the outfit they have made.
“It’s important for us to be here today, because we show the Caribbean culture”
“In fact, the emptied position is a street orchestra. We position ourselves in sections. There is the dance section, the chacha section, the ti bwa section, the snare section, the tom section, the low tom section, the bass section and, most importantly, there is the drum section. We also have the lambi conch, which is a dish that is important to us, which we eat. And in fact, we use them to make music too”explains Eddy Quemin, president of the association and musical leader.
“The Caribbean carnival is something festive, joyful, with demands. For example, we made songs about chlordecone, about slavery. And the public who is with us, they are there and they sing with us behind, in chorus, and that’s what gives us strength, because they all have demands. It’s important for us to be here today, because we show the Caribbean culture, the culture of the West Indies”adds Eddy.