Piton Beer, the gold sponsor and official beer for Saint Lucia’s Carnival, on Wednesday June 5, 2013 unveiled its plans for this year’s event, which officially gets underway with the public launch dubbed “Fusion” on Sunday. The Piton Beer media launch was held at the Bay Gardens Beach Resort and Spa.
Speaking on Wednesday, Greg Graves, General Manager of WLBL, the parent company of Piton Beer, stated that since its 1992 inception, Piton Beer was and continues to be brewed with the highest quality ingredients to meet international standards. “Put simply, we take pride in this great beer which has won several awards and with our sponsorship, (in fact we prefer to use the word partnership), at Piton Beer we place the same emphasis on quality, standards and pride as we do in our beer making,” Graves said. “Of course, today it is all about carnival, a time when we are reminded that the road and the fetes don’t just belong to the revelers, Tent Pinez and feters, but it is shared by Piton Beer, bringing people from all walks of life together. And so this year with the theme “My Piton, My Carnival” Piton Beer will ensure that throughout the length and breadth of this country, every event in which we engage our partners, will see the same level of commitment, resulting in the same level of enjoyment for carnival lovers, carnival supporters and of course Piton lovers and fans,” the general manager expressed.
Piton Brand Manager Rohan Lovence explained Wednesday, that the theme “My Piton, My Carnival” was all about being bold, imaginative, innovative and exciting this year.
“We boldly launched our very own event Piton Soca Starz on April 12 which became the first major activity for the carnival season,” Lovence said. “It’s a product we are proud of and view as a nurturing ground for up and coming talent,” he said pointing out Mongstar and Ambi who were in attendance as products of Piton Soca Starz.
The brand manager went on to explain this year’s Piton carnival promotion where consumers purchasing six packs at any Super J supermarket can win big for carnival. The promotion started on June 3, culminating June 26. One lucky winner and their friend will receive a carnival costume with Red Unlimited, a two night stay at Bay Gardens Carnival Monday and Tuesday and a Piton Carnival survival pack.
“As the official beer and gold sponsor of Carnival, Piton Beer is happy to be making a direct investment in carnival through the stakeholders committee for Carnival. This will see the presence of Piton in enhancing and creating much excitement with such events as Calypso, Soca and Groovy Monarch, The King and Queen of the Bands and the Parade of the bands,” Lovence noted.
Piton Beer for 2013 is also sponsoring Just 4 Fun, Red Unlimited, Toxik Nation, Mas Action and Rituals. The brand is also on board with a number of community carnivals as well. “Piton Beer has been embraced by citizens in every nook and
cranny of Saint Lucia and with that in mind, this year we are putting greater effort in sharing the true carnival experience in the various communities. We are working with Dennery, Choiseul, Micoud, Vieux Fort, Soufriere, Anse La Raye and Gros Islet in staging truly unique and exciting aspects for their carnivals,” the brand manager stated.
Two of the biggest fetes for carnival “Cooler Lime” and “H2O Wet Fete” have also been embraced by Piton Beer as well as Piton Party in the Yard.
“However, our biggest innovation for Carnival 2013 will be another first for Piton. The “Piton Rev Up To Carnival” will be held on July 6 at Samaans Park,” Lovence announced. This exhilarating event as he put it, is expected to generate much fun and excitement as it seeks to embrace various aspects of carnival allowing fans to rev up to their full enjoyment. “One of the highlights of the event will be what we call the people’s monarch, where we will select the best songs for carnival. The performers will compete for a cash prize of EC$10, 000,” Lovence stated.
The brand manager later unveiled the “My Piton, My Carnival” branding for carnival as well as the costumed model who will be gracing the Piton Beer carnival labels and posters.
Sponsorship checks were also presented to the various bands as well as the Committee of Stakeholders for Carnival represented by John Joseph. The chairman said Wednesday that it was pleasing to have a dedicated company which placed a high emphasis on quality, on board for carnival. He implored carnival stakeholders to exhibit the same level of commitment and quality to carnival.
In closing Rohan Lovence told those in attendance that Piton Beer’s investment in carnival this year is exceedingly high, notwithstanding tough economic times. “It is however not just about our cash injection into the main event organizers, but includes direct benefits for vendors, service providers as well as the number of performers we will be contracting directly this year, not to mention our own expertise,” Lovence said. He closed off by wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable carnival, as they enjoy Piton Beer responsibly.
The Piton Carnival media launch Wednesday was attended by several carnival band leaders, representatives from the SLTB, the media and carnival stakeholders. It also featured a performance by Mongstar and Ambi.
