While snow blankets Afropop's home base in Brooklyn, the heat is only rising in Trinidad as we approach Carnival. Carnival season in Trinidad and Tobago stretches from the beginning of the year to the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, a date that shifts with the liturgical calendar. This year, Ash Wednesday falls on Feb. 14, making the season a short one, overflowing with concerts, competitions and liquor-soaked fetes day and night. Although there are concerns about the money feeding Carnival this year, the festivities are mostly alive and well.
On top of the concerts and fetes, in these weeks leading up to the real bacchanal--Carnival Monday and Tuesday--the sounds of the steelpan reverberate through the night, every night. If you know where to look (made easy by this handy website), you can make your way to the panyards every night and soak up the vibes. Most of the yards sell beer, bake and shark, and other snacks, hosting dozens of fans every night who chat and listen to the 120-person steelbands running through their pieces. Back in 2016, we brought you sounds and sights from the panyards in Brooklyn, but here in Trinidad, the concept is brought 10 degrees higher. After all, the steelpan, better known just as "pan," is the heartbeat of Trinidad; its national instrument, birthed from the rough neighborhood of Laventille and carried to international stardom.
For the unfortunate many non-Trinis, the pan is taken as an entertaining Caribbean novelty. But walk into a panyard and you’ll have no such misconception any longer. Pan is high art, a business, a national cornerstone; more a lifestyle than an instrument. These pan orchestras are explosive, refined and awe inspiring. During Carnival season, the songs they play are mostly arrangements of the year’s soca hits, but they play anything from symphonies to salsa. Some bands tour the world year-round, especially to Japan, Europe and the U.S. (traveling with these instruments is not easy, so some have pans stored in countries they frequently visit).
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Thank you Jeremy de Barry for the photo Essay. Great pictures. Missing Trinidad cannot be present due a very sick parent. But also thanks to Pan times for the updates and live stream information. May be next year if God allows.
Oooops! Fixing link Photo Essay: Steelpan Semifinals in Trinidad - 'See More'.
Linking to an informative blog-post (8th Feb 2018) by Sebastian Bouknight on the Afropop Worldwide wwweb.
Bouknigh visited the TT Panorama 2018 Medium & Large steelband Semi Finals held at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, Trinidad, TT, on 28th January 2018.
Bouknigh roams with his camera to warmly capture the carnival spirit of the event with views from the Greens, The North Stand, the Stage and the Grand Stand; and blogs a general appraisal of the 2018 Panorama Pan scene in Trinidad, TT.
Nice one Sabastian.