Pan on the Avenue for J’ouvertBy DARCEL CHOY Saturday, February 4 2012
On Carnival Monday, Ariapita Avenue will be renamed the Birdie Mannette Pan Avenue for a few hours to facilitate a pan festival.
Deputy Mayor Keron Valentine of the Port-of-Spain Corporation yesterday announced this at a press conference at the corporation on Knox Street, Port-of-Spain.
Vernon “Birdie” Mannette was one of the founding members of the Invaders Steel Orchestra.
For those few hours between 4.30 am to 9 am, steel bands will have their own space to feature their music as well as to participate in the Downtown Carnival Committee J’Ouvert Bomb competition at Adam Smith Square, Port-of-Spain. The prizes this year for the competition for conventional steel bands, include first place $30,000, second place, $25, 000, third place $20,000, fourth place, $15,000, fifth $10,000 and sixth place $8,000.
For traditional steel bands the first place prize is $10,000, second place $8,000, third $6,000 and fourth $4,000. Valentine added that the large music trucks will not be allowed to use the Avenue during those hours. PoS Mayor Louis Lee Sing said they have carved out a space for pan for this year’s Carnival celebration ,and he encouraged citizens to come and witness the revolutionary event.
“It is going to be the best breakfast party Trinidad and Tobago has ever experienced, if you wish to be in a safe environment come to the pan,” he said.
Richard Forteau, general secretary of PanTrinbago said he welcomed the initiative as the association has been requesting it for a few years. “It is the national instrument and it should be given a place of pride on J’ouvert,” he said. He also encouraged steel bands who did not make it into the different rounds of the Panorama to still come out and be part of the festival and take part in the competition.
“We ask for you to pull your troops in, the whole Carnival is not just about Panorama,” Forteau said.
Meanwhile, president of the National Carnival Bands Association David Lopez said that registration for National King and Queens competition has been closed off. A total of 84 Kings and Queens have registered with 37 Kings and 47 Queens.
WWW.panapparels.com
Replies
That's a move in the right direction, my hope is that they will do the same for Carnival Monday and Tuesday.