Costing Carnival in Jamaica

This post was inspired by a conversation I had with some people last week about how some girls finance their carnival experience (which we will not go into), but what we concluded is that carnival can cost A LOT. I had suggested that for women, costs can run into JA$100,000 (US$1149) which is nuff money...It then seems fair when some critics conclude that Carnival is geared to the uptown crowd.

So I decided to list all the expenses for all the major carnival events which include:

Mas Camp fridays (including drinks and food)- US$150
French Lyme Wednesdays- US$45
Island mas soca village- US$45
Soca vs Dancehall- US$22
Beach Jouvert- US$45
1 night at hotel after Beach Jouvert-US$60
Boat to Soca at the Sandbar-US$5
Food and drinks at Soca at the Sandbar-US$25
Sundown Cooler fete- US$17
I Love Soca- US$28
Blocko (including drinks and food)-US$50
Bacchanal Jouvert (including drinks and food)-US$50
Breakfast party- US$28
Bazodee- US$80
Lock it Down- US$28
Outfits for fetes- US$180
Costume (with Frenchmen)- U$267
Boots-US$35
Insoles-US$10
Tights- US$11
Carnival Bag- US$12
Hair and Makeup- US$100
Total= US$1293 (JA$112,491)

Of course this breakdown is extreme since there are very few people who attended all the events. It did not take into consideration travel expenses, food after the fetes, fitness regimes and diet plans. Some people may have spent more on their hair and outfits while some opted to do the makeup themselves. The costing also did not consider upgrades to costumes which could have cost up to US$300... On the other hand, some persons did not spend as much on the costume, opting for tshirts or a cheaper section. Even if you did not spend JA$112,491, I'm sure you spent a lot but was it worth it?