Carnival isn’t just home to revellers, the Jamaica Observer spotted some towering figures at road march 2025 and snagged a quick Q and A with Simone Harris, founder of Walking Tall Jamaica.

Observer: Who are ‘Walking Tall’?
Simone Harris: We’re Moko Jumbie stilt walkers, I would say we’re a performance collective, right? We are a group of people with a shared interest in culture. We have touched over 100 lives.

O: What is Moko Jumbie stilt walking?
SH: Well, you know, the Eastern Caribbean islands, they have a strong stilt walking culture. It is everywhere. It’s even used as a social intervention tool for young people. One of the most recognisable characters or figures is the Moko Jumbie, the giant spirit. Right, [but] a little known fact is that here in Jamaica, we too have a connection to this giant spirit, but we don’t call it stilt or Moko Jumbie the way it’s referred to in the Eastern Caribbean. In Jamaica, it’s a part of our Maroon heritage, the stilts were made out of bamboo and they looked different. They actually looked like something you may more likely to come across in maybe a Western African nation— my father used to walk on them as a child in Portland.

O: So … what’s the aim of Walking Tall?
SH: Even though we’re using the technology of Trinidad, give thanks to one of my mentors Junior Bisnath in San Fernando, we’re not trying to replicate Trinidad. We’re really trying to revive our culture and so innovation is a part of that. We are trying to build our skills as storytellers, creating costumes, just having fun.

Walking Tall Jamaica stilt walkers at the Carnival in Jamaica road march on Sunday, April 27, 2025. (Photo: Gavin Gettie)

O: Being five extra feet in the air sounds daunting. How difficult is walking on stilts?
SH: It’s like learning to walk the way babies learn to walk but, the biggest thing, it’s about conquering fear. The first thing you’re going to think before you even get up [is] “I’m going to fall” so the entire activity is about quieting that part of your brain that’s going to tell you that you’re not going to succeed in this thing. And that’s what we’re tapping into because those principles are something you can bring into real life.

O: Why was it so important to be at Carnival 2025?
SH: We see carnival in Jamaica as an important space not just for Moko Jumbie stilt walking but Jonkunnu. Carnival is an important space for us to show that we exist and to also reinforce what we have been learning and what we have been practicing. It is a big stage for the culture.

O: What was the inspiration for costumes at road march 2025?
SH: Our presentation was the Hummingbird People. We happened to be looking at this costume design idea and the colours of the Pitchi-patchi. It looks like a bird, specifically a Doctor Bird. We did some more research and learned about the Taino history in Jamaica, the Tainos are called the Hummingbird People so, we [experimented].

O: And what’s next for Walking Tall?
SH: I’m investing now in the research and development connecting with the elders who have the knowledge of how to make the jointers and teach how to walk on them and then we integrate that into what we’re already doing. I’m not thinking about revenue generation for this thing, because this is a culture, it is powerful. It’s how can more people see and know that we exist and be willing to come and try it. So all the 5K run-walks, we want to be walking tall in them, we want to be on the road for carnival, and we want to engage in workshops through partnerships with public and private sectors.

Walking Tall Jamaica stilt walkers at the Carnival in Jamaica road march on Sunday, April 27, 2025. (Photo: Gavin Gettie)

O: Finally, what would you want Jamaicans to know about stilt walking?
SH: Jamaica has a rich history, stilt walking is not something that’s imported. It is a part of us. This is a remembering, a recalling of our own ancestral history, all of us. And every time you see us walking, just know that we are thinking, we are reclaiming our power, we are seeing ourselves as brave, proud Jamaicans walking tall.

Find Walking Tall on Instagram @walkingtallja or contact them via email at walkingtallstiltsgmail.com