At the last weekend of May 2012, I attended the Venetian Carnival which was held at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel at Macau. The carnival, with the theme of New Orleans Mardi Gras was a really unique event and I must say that I enjoyed myself very much through out the carnival!
The carnival was held for 3 days in a row from 25-27 May 2012, where the main activities start around evening. It officially started on the evening of 25th of May 2012 with the Samba girls leading in line of a distinctive parade from inside of the hotel towards the open area just outside of the main lobby followed by an opening speech to kick start the carnival. Lots of pictures and videos were taken by people there and I “opened” my eyes pretty big enjoying the whole parade!
Over the 3 days when the carnival happens, there were constant crowd from time to time with the people having fun with hired individuals dressed in-style along to the main theme of the event. Everyone took pictures with random mini activities happening at different corners of the venue at random times. Everything was so colorful and the atmosphere was superb!
I didn’t get to catch all of them as there were too many things to see, but I definitely had fun being amongst the huge crowd there with highly professional individuals entertaining us there.
Also, there were food & beverages stalls set up there offering delicious food and thirst cruncher as well. Thumbs up to good food & drinks!
One of the highlight in the event has got to be these necklace which was distributed for free through out the carnival. People were basically hanging a big smile on their face having received them. It was said to bring luck, if I’m not mistaken.
Anyway, a Jazz & Blues Band competition was held for the first time ever in the carnival with international jazz and blues performers competing against each other for the grand cash prize of HKD250,000. The competition was the main highlight of the whole carnival with 12 teams giving their best to the crowd.
The judges, Hong Kong icon Mr. Michael Wong, Mr. Matt Coyte, Editor-in-Chief of Rolling Stone Australia magazine, and Ms. Vonzell Solomon, American Idol top-three finalist, watched 12 hopefuls perform, each in 30-minute sets. Contestants were judged on their skill, style and performance over the three-day carnival.
Personally, I think that ALL of the bands (Individual artiste, vocalists & instrumentalists alike) were really GOOD and I totally enjoy most of the performances delivered by the bands (Except for a few performances which were rather dull).
My personal top 3 (In no particular order) are Spoke (USA), The CompanY (Philippines) & The Main Squeeze (USA). Well, am happy that 2 of my fav. teams emerged at num 1/3 placing of the competition. They deserved it!
1st Place HK$250,000: The Main Squeeze, Indiana, U.S.
2nd Place HK$150,000: The Red Groove Project, Shanghai, China
3rd Place HK$100,000: SPOKE, New York, U.S
Supported by the Macau Government Tourist Office, The Venetian Carnival, a
three-day celebration of world cultures through music, food, wine and live entertainment at The Venetian
Macao, crowned the winners of Asia’s richest Jazz & Blues contest tonight. Three of the six finalists have
taken away a total cash prize pool of HK$500,000 in the ‘Battle of the Bands’ showdown.Brendon Elliott, Vice President of Sales & Resort Marketing, Venetian Macau Ltd. said, “We had an
overwhelming response to the Jazz & Blues contest, with home-grown talent from Macao to as far away as
Brazil, France, Korea and the U.S. With the calibre of entries so high, we have been able to put on an
unrivalled show and display of musical talent over the three-day carnival. It’s been an absolute pleasure to
watch and listen, and I’m extremely pleased for our top three winners.”
Here are a few more pictures taken during the carnival. You have to go and experience it yourself when they organize this again next year, it’s AWESOME!!
Will write another blog post on what I did in Macau during my free time!!
*I was invited by Venetian Macao to participate in Venetian Macao’s 3-day Carnival. The flight, hotel and meals were sponsored by the Venetian Macao.
Do check out more photos taken at 澳門威尼斯人嘉年华 Venetian Carnival 2012 in the links below!
Facebook Album A – 澳門威尼斯人嘉年华 Venetian Carnival 2012
Facebook Album B – Performances at 澳門威尼斯人嘉年华 Venetian Carnival 2012
About The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel
The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel is Macao’s first integrated resort featuring stunning replicas of the famous canals and architectural icons of Venice, Italy. The Venetian Macao features 3,000 suites, 1.2 million square feet of convention and meeting facilities as well as a 15,000-seat CotaiArena™ designed for world-class sports events and electrifying entertainment. The Venetian Macao is also home to the unique, 1,800-seat luxury Venetian Theatre, hosting the best in international and Chinese entertainment; more than 30 renowned restaurants; MALO CLINIC Health & Wellness; the incredibly fun QUBE indoor playground and more than 300 retailers at The Grand Canal Shoppes. Outdoor recreation areas include swimming pools and cabanas and a mini-golf course.
