Carnival · ASCCO

Mardi Gras parade

Parade with the ASCCO on Tuesday 9 February 2027

The ASCCO group parades in Gustavia on Tuesday 9 February 2027. Registration is online, like every other activity of the association.

Registration until Thursday 1 October 2026 Costumes are ordered well in advance: after that date the group is set and we can no longer add anyone.

You land on the usual registration form, with the Carnival already ticked.

The packages

Woman — from age 12 €176.00
Man — from age 12 €50.00
Girl (under 12) €30.00
Boy (under 12) €30.00

The Woman package is paid in two instalments: €124 on registration (membership included), then €76 on 15 January 2027, automatically on the same card. The other packages are paid in one go. Children are registered on the file of a responsible adult. The rate follows the participant’s age: child package under 12, adult package from 12.

The women’s group is limited to 40 participants, of whom at most 8 aged 12 to 18. A child under 12 may only parade if one of their parents parades too. Only one adult woman per registration: you add your children and your partner to it, but two adult women register separately — each with her own waiver and membership. A girl aged 12 to 18 stays on her parent’s registration.

Lower your package by finding a sponsor

You approach a company and it gives €300 to the ASCCO? It is the €76 of the January instalment that comes back to you: your Woman package costs €100 instead of €176. If the €300 is received before 15 January, the instalment is simply cancelled and nothing leaves your account; if it arrives later, the association returns the money to you. Every further €300 brought in opens the same right, never beyond what you actually paid: a child package therefore becomes free, never profitable.

One useful clarification: the discount is worked out on money given to the association, because money is what it gives back to you. Raffle prizes, lent equipment and helping hands matter enormously to the group and remain very welcome — they simply are not part of this particular calculation. The discount becomes yours once the money has reached the ASCCO account.

How it works: register and pay your package as usual. Then tell the board about your sponsor, by e-mail or at the Tuesday front desk. As soon as the €300 has been received, the association cancels your January instalment — or refunds you if it has already gone out.

Download the template letter (PDF)

To print and fill in by hand: your name, the company approached. The bottom of the page is for the company. Payment goes to the board, never through your hands.

A waiver to read before confirming

The parade takes place on public roads. As in previous years, a liability waiver must be accepted: it appears at the last step of the registration and replaces the hand-signed paper form. For a child, the responsible adult accepts it on their behalf.

Read the liability waiver

Mardi Gras parade — Tuesday 9 February 2027

I, the undersigned [your first and last name], residing at [your address], acting on my own behalf and, where applicable, as the legal guardian of the minor(s) registered in this file:

Carnival participants declared in this file: [the people registered for the Carnival in your file]

I release the ASCCO association and all its representatives from any liability for the entire duration of the Mardi Gras parade of 9 February 2027, and until everyone has returned home.
I certify that the whole group has read the general conditions of participation set by the ASCCO and undertakes to comply with them.
For each minor participant in this file, I declare that I am their legal guardian and that I am registering them on their behalf.

By ticking the box below, I confirm that I have read and understood the above. This confirmation has the same value as writing “read and approved”, the date and my signature on the paper form; it is recorded with its date and time.

Conditions of participation

Parading with Cho Douvan means committing to a few rules: rehearsals, costume workshops, conduct on the day. You accept them when registering, but nothing stops you reading them now.

Read the Cho Douvan group conditions

Conditions of participation — Cho Douvan group

Before the carnival

Confidentiality. The theme, the music, the choreography and all information about the Cho Douvan group remain confidential until carnival day.
Registration and payment. Your registration is only secured once paid: membership of the association and the participation package are paid together, by bank card, at the time of registration. No costume or accessory is handed over before payment in full.
Sponsorship. Each participant is invited to make at least one sponsorship request — it is not compulsory. A template letter can be downloaded from the Carnival page. A reminder: €300 brought in to the association entitles you to €76 refunded on your package. Any company supporting the group must provide its vector logo (.ai, .eps, .pdf or .svg): it is the only format that stays sharp once printed on the costumes and the float.
Costume workshops. Your attendance at the workshops is essential: this is where your costume and accessories are made.
Costume. The costume must meet the criteria set by the registered group.
Rehearsals. The choreography is optional. If you choose it, attending every rehearsal becomes compulsory: at most two absences are tolerated, and the last three rehearsals are compulsory, on pain of exclusion from the group.
Building the float. A workshop is held on the Sunday before the carnival: your presence is requested to build and decorate the float.

On parade day

Choreography. If you have chosen to dance, you dance every choreography, from the start of the parade to the end.
Children. Every child must be accompanied by a parent or a responsible adult for the whole duration of the parade.
Alcohol and heat. Alcohol consumption must remain moderate: the heat and the excitement of the day are often treacherous. A snack is provided halfway through. Enjoy yourselves without excess, and arrange a safe way home in advance.
After the parade. We ask you to join us in the ASCCO car park to dismantle the float.

Welcome to the Circus. For the 2026 edition, the ASCCO group turned the parade into a big top: red waistcoats, straw hats, and headdresses of pink and gold feathers spread out like fans.

From the children to the adults, everyone paraded together through Gustavia — the same costume, the same colours, the same troupe.

Thank you to everyone who sewed, glued, rehearsed and danced. See you at the next Mardi Gras.

The 2025 edition of the Carnival will live long in the memory. Our ASCCO group, dressed in bright colours — fuchsia pink, orange, yellow and turquoise — paraded through the streets of Saint-Barthélemy under a radiant sun.

From the youngest to the most experienced, everyone pulled together to make the day a festive and colourful occasion. The spectacular feather headdresses, the choreography, the smiles and the group’s camaraderie won everyone over.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers, the costume makers, the dancers and, of course, to you, the public, who keep our Carnival alive year after year.

See you next year for an even more colourful edition!

Purple, lilac and white for the 2024 edition. Tall feathers held up over the shoulders, silver fringes, sequins — the group formed a single line of colour along the quay and then through the streets of Gustavia.

The youngest dancers opened the way, the adults followed, and the men paraded in white trousers and purple waistcoats.

Thank you to the costume makers, the dancers and the audience who make this day what it is.

Khaki and green for the 2023 edition. Peaked caps trimmed with braid, black costumes set with green stones, and headdresses mixing green feathers with tall beige plumes.

The whole group paraded through Gustavia, in front of a packed crowd — the women in costume, the men in olive shirts and camouflage shorts.

A colour, a discipline, and the same pleasure in being together on the day.