‘Carnival Queen and Heritage Specialist’

The Rotterdam Summer Carnival was added as the 100th tradition to the National Inventory of Intangible Heritage last year. This was largely thanks to carnival queen Dyonna Benett, who takes part in the Gran Marcha. Tirelessly, she fights for the recognition and preservation of Caribbean traditions and for an honest representation of history.

By Otti Thomas

“Every Queen says, of course, that she always dreamed of it. As a child, you see other queens and want to be one too. My mother was a true carnavalista and passed her love for carnival on to me.”
For 27-year-old Dyonna Benett, a long-cherished wish comes true during the Gran Marcha. As Queen, she represents the Rotterdam Summer Carnival.

Years ago, Benett, daughter of a Curaçaoan mother and Curaçaoan-Dominican father, already participated in the Marcha di Despedida and the Teen Parade in Curaçao. Together with her sister and cousin, she was a member of The Original Dancers, her mother’s dance group, which also performed in Belgium and Germany. She’s a loyal participant in the Rotterdam Summer Carnival and, together with Unicum Brassband, won the Battle of the Drums twice. But this will be her first Gran Marcha.

Her participation is partly a coincidence. In 2015, she was First Runner-up to Queen Witney van Ommeren. In 2016, no new Queen was chosen because the Summer Carnival was canceled due to bad weather, so Benett, as First Runner-up, got to go to Curaçao. But even if a new Queen had been chosen, she would have competed again.
Thanks to her, the Summer Carnival was added last year to the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. And heritage is her greatest passion.

“I had to take part.”