Carnival tabanca as COVID-19 closes festival

Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

A tarpaulin drapes over the bass pans at the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra on Tragarete Road, Port of Spain

Trinidad & Tobago, W.I.  - ....There will be no Carnival 2021. No physical events such as fetes, stick-fighting, ole mas, Dimanche Gras, J'Ouvert, parade of the bands, and Panorama.

The annual event has been cancelled this year as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

....Sunday Newsday caught up with members of the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra at their base on Tragarete Road in Port of Spain on Tuesday. A group of men sat under a tree in the panyard as they listened to the band on the radio and exchanged memories of Carnivals past.

Former trustee Glenford “House” Wallace said it was a sad moment for all its members, but they understood the need for the cancellation.

He said, “Playing pan at this time of the year was always something we looked forward to. People feel like a piece of their heart has been taken away.

“Some of us just come to the panyard, like today, and reminisce about what was and what this year could have been like. They bring a pan and knock a little thing.”

Desperadoes, last year’s Panorama winner, has 12 titles in the large band category.


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