2014 Hollywood Carnival Highlights

Hollywood Carnival 2014 Highlights

Julianspromos traveled to Los Angeles in June 2014 for Hollywood Carnival and the Los Angeles Culture Festival, documenting Soca, mas, live performances and Caribbean culture as the celebration took over Hollywood Boulevard.

The main Carnival parade took place on Saturday, June 21, 2014, with masqueraders traveling approximately three miles along Hollywood Boulevard from Vermont Avenue toward Highland Avenue.

Original Julianspromos media coverage was produced by Julian Hackett and Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, capturing multiple parts of the Hollywood Carnival weekend, from live entertainment and the Parade of Bands to the Epic After Party.

Hollywood Carnival Main Event

Julianspromos captured highlights from the Hollywood Carnival Main Event featuring Machel Montano and Lyrikal, bringing live Soca performances into the wider weekend of Carnival activities in Los Angeles.

On the Road With Epic Mas & Extacy Mas

For the Parade of Bands, Julianspromos went on the road with Epic Mas, which participated in Hollywood Carnival as a section of Extacy Mas.

Epic Mas presented the theme “Soleil,” helping bring Trinidad and Tobago-inspired mas and Soca culture onto one of the most recognizable streets in the world.

The original Julianspromos footage followed the band along Hollywood Boulevard and captured performances by Machel Montano and Lyrikal, along with appearances from personalities including Anya Ayoung-Chee, London Future, Nikita, Damien Wayans, Giselle “The Wassi One,” DJ Spice, Tony Cross, Caesar’s Army and others.

With Julian Hackett and Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson representing Julianspromos on the ground, the coverage documented both the road experience and the personalities surrounding a growing Caribbean Carnival movement on the U.S. West Coast.

Caribbean Culture on Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Carnival formed part of the Los Angeles Culture Festival, a multicultural celebration created to showcase music, costumes, dance and traditions from Caribbean and international communities.

The 2014 celebration brought mas and Soca directly onto Hollywood Boulevard, placing Caribbean Carnival culture in the center of one of the world’s most recognizable entertainment districts.

Machel Montano became closely associated with the Hollywood Carnival movement and Epic Mas during this period, helping connect the West Coast celebration with Trinidad and Tobago Carnival culture and introducing Soca to audiences outside its traditional markets.

The Epic After Party

The Julianspromos coverage continued beyond the road on Monday, June 23, 2014, at the Epic After Party at Xen Lounge in Studio City, California.

The event featured a live performance by Machel Montano, was hosted by Anya Ayoung-Chee and Director X, and featured music by DJ Stephen and Sub Tropic.

Julianspromos preserved an extended Machel Montano performance from the night featuring selections from his catalog including “Happiest Man Alive,” “Bam Bam,” “Bruk It,” “Shameless,” “Bottle of Rum,” “Vybz Cyah Done,” “Mr Fete,” “Haunted,” “Epic” and “The Fog.”

The Hollywood trip also produced an original Julianspromos interview with Machel Montano, hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson at Xen Lounge.

Hollywood Carnival 2014 in Photos

The original Julianspromos coverage also preserved a collection of photographs from Hollywood Carnival 2014, capturing the mas, performers, personalities and atmosphere surrounding the Los Angeles Culture Festival and Epic Mas.

The gallery provides another look at the weekend beyond the video coverage, documenting the costumes, road experience, performers and Caribbean culture that transformed Hollywood Boulevard during the 2014 celebration.

These original images are preserved as part of the Julianspromos Archives, helping document an important stage in both the company’s multimedia history and the growth of Caribbean Carnival culture in Los Angeles.

An Important Moment in the Julianspromos Story

Hollywood Carnival 2014 represents an important stage in the growth of Julianspromos’ multimedia operation.

By this period, the platform had expanded beyond digital music promotion into original artist interviews, live performance footage, photography, on-the-road Carnival coverage and international entertainment reporting.

The Los Angeles trip demonstrated the increasingly broad scope of Julianspromos’ coverage, documenting the Carnival parade, live Soca performances, personalities surrounding the event, nightlife and an original artist interview during a single Carnival weekend.

Coverage like Hollywood Carnival helped lay the groundwork for the larger international expansion that followed, including Julianspromos’ formal Multimedia Carnival Tour in 2015.

From the Julianspromos Archives

Hollywood Carnival 2014 Highlights is preserved as part of the Julianspromos Archives, documenting years of original Soca, Carnival, artist interviews, live performances, photography and Caribbean entertainment coverage.

Explore more original footage, photographs, interviews and stories from throughout the history of Julianspromos.