Entrance fee for Carnival Village

There should be an entrance fee. Why should it be free?

in most places these types of events are not free. i dont see a problem

Why should there be an entrance fee? I don't know about this carnival, but the local ones here don't provide any entertainment value that a fee to just walk into the carnival so you can spend more money while there is ridiculous. The local carnivals here don't charge a fee, but you pay for rides, food, drinks and such so in the end you are paying a fee but for a service/product. It's like paying a cover charge, unless there is a band, I'm not paying and have walked out of many bars thinking they were going to charge me just so I can buy a drink from them. Not going to happen. Anyways, if there are free shows and such at this carnival, then yes I can see paying a fee, otherwise I agree with Sparty.

fairs in the states do charge an entrance fee. so really, what is the difference.

That was kinda my point to.

The Carnival Village does provide bands playing nightly for entertainment.
I'm sure they like to get paid. Plus there's added police security and clean up daily to consider so to maintain that, there's a cost, unfortunately.

How they propose to collect the fees will be interesting since the Village is in a wide open, easily accessible, from all directions, location

My point is, they have never charged before, they "forgot" to budget for extra security. Maybe the needed monies should be taken from their bloated salaries. Part of their "security is a fence around the village. Ask people at the Who concert how good that works. With WAPA increases, fuel cost increases, Medicaid expansion being phased out, a new Sin Tax and now this added fee, a revolution is coming.

My point is, they have never charged before, they "forgot" to budget for extra security. Maybe the needed monies should be taken from their bloated salaries. Part of their "security is a fence around the village. Ask people at the Who concert how good that works. With WAPA increases, fuel cost increases, Medicaid expansion being phased out, a new Sin Tax and now this added fee, a revolution is coming.

No argument there!

Just wait until the government paychecks stop.

Soon come.

An entrance fee for carnival/festival villages in the V.I. is long overdue. A large portion of the budget, which is subsidized by the govt, goes to paying for nightly entertainment. I've heard of entertainers charging upwards of 15-20K

Only in our villages or during election will patrons get FREE entertainment like that. Anytime or anywhere else it would be a $30-50 entrance fee.

A broke govt cannot continue pouring money into carnival. The carnival committee needs to start covering the costs.

$30-50? A broke populace can't afford that. Or maybe it's time for the private sector, the altruistic job creators, to step up, or maybe churches. God knows jouvert Thursday, then they all show up Sunday to be forgiven...

check out some reggae/calypso event concerts, boatrides, etc....and you'll see the amount of people that find money to pay the admission fees

And they'll also be paying to join parade and jouvert troupes in the range of $50-200

I'm not in any troupes. I just want to take my kid to the village so he can ride the rides. It's bad enough it's $25 for a plate of stew conch.

Well a $5 entrance fee is still a deal. Your kid gets in free I think

I think it should've been at least $10

We will go on a free night. I'm not rewarding people who do not know how to budget.

Who pays for jump-up? Extra police, road closures, trash cleanup, that @!!!#$%! helicopter flying overhead. Do the Mocko-Jumbies get paid? I imagine the Flaming Gypsies don't volunteer. Is it in the budget too? Lot's of sales to street vendors, stores, local restaurants that night. Assuming the proper gross receipt taxes get turned in the govt should get a little something out of it to cover costs? Or do the street vendors pay a fee for each stand?

We will go on a free night. I'm not rewarding people who do not know how to budget.

You can't make this up

We will go on a free night. I'm not rewarding people who do not know how to budget.

You can't make this up

This isn't about me. I can afford to go. You see, I believe in community in standing with others who can't. The carnival committee are screwing people who aren't as fortunate as me.

$5 is minimal.
I'm sure everyone that really wants to go can afford $5.
If you go every night, that's only $35 for 7 nights of musical entertainment.
I'm surprised that they aren't charging more.

Then there's still the fireworks to pay for which in itself is a large expense.

Would you prefer to not have live music or a Carnival, the Carnival Village, security and clean up, for that matter?

I would prefer the carnival committee not be the biggest cost, which they are.

We will go on a free night. I'm not rewarding people who do not know how to budget.

You can't make this up

This isn't about me. I can afford to go. You see, I believe in community in standing with others who can't. The carnival committee are screwing people who aren't as fortunate as me.

Not what I found ironic

all this over a small 5 fee?

I'm not in any troupes. I just want to take my kid to the village so he can ride the rides. It's bad enough it's $25 for a plate of stew conch.

I would never allow my kids to go on the rides. With virtually no safety inspections, you're putting lives at risk needlessly.

the rides are safer than being in a car