From the pit
Labor Day on Eastern Parkway. The 59th annual New York Caribbean Carnival parade stepped off Monday, September 7, 2026, and this year WIADCA put two men at the head of the road who between them cover the whole map: Buju Banton for Jamaica, reggae and dancehall, and Kees Dieffenthaller of Kes the Band for Trinidad, soca and mas. The theme was One Caribbean, and the pairing was the point — the board said both artists carried the culture to the world without ever leaving the communities that made them. Buju, born Mark Anthony Myrie in Kingston, whose 2019 return to the stage was a diaspora event in its own right. Kes, who pushed Trinidad soca onto international stages with Wotless and a live show that does not let up. Both were honored at the WIADCA VIP Breakfast that morning before the Parkway filled. Picatra worked the road for BOBBYSHAKES — the feathers against the Parkway, the sound trucks, and the bass you feel before you hear it. Nearly six decades in, this is still the biggest Caribbean road in North America, and the one where the whole diaspora meets.
Words & photography — Anil Batra, Picatra Music Journal