Posted by Pan Times on February 27, 2015 at 8:54am
This is an aerial picture of Port of Spain Independence Square at 4pm ON CARNIVAL TUESDAY!!!! LOOK AT THE SQUARE!!! LOOK AT THE STREETS!!! We are supposed to be the capital of Carnival, home of 'the Greatest Show on Earth!!!' Watch it and weep!!! Who can remember 25 years ago when there used to be thousands of people on that square- thousands of masqueraders from dozens of bands, thousands of spectators thronging to get a look at the brilliance of our costuming and dancing to the melodies of brilliantly crafted songs? Who remembers this?!!! How far have we fallen! -- By Rubadiri Victor -- MEDITATION ON THE TRADITIONS- CARNIVAL 2015 I'm rather sick of the version of the Festival that is continually put out there- all Mardi Gras bikini and beads, young girls, all-inclusive fetes & foreign celebrities... There are dozens of other Carnivals happening- and in Port of Spain the Canboulay tradition has not yet given up the ghost. The traditional masquerade although dwindling in numbers are as vital and phenomenal in their creativity, surreallity, and transformative Power and Magic as ever. I walk the entire Carnival route on both days- lapping the city and its suburbs- documenting the Carnival, all its pulses, the visible and the invisible- and bear witness to the battle between the Mardi Gras and the Canboulay. I will be writing a report from the battlefield soon. In the meantime here are some images from the frontlines from the Army of the Canboulay Warriors...
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When you Trinis start behaving like decent human beings then people will patronize these events. For the past two years you look at the newspapers. Killing, killing and more killing and corruption, corruption and more corruption. Local Trinis are just fed up. Many don't want to risk their lives of the roads for carnival. Today in TrinIdad after 5:00pm on carnival days, everybody pack up and try to head for home quickly before its gets to dark, fear they may be mugged etc. Foreigners who you see for example, playing pan for top steelbands, don't experience this in their countries. Despers ran from their community due to constant violence in their areas, most end in death. Trinis enjoy themselves more at carnivals up the Caribbean islands. Its safer, people are also more friendly.
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When you Trinis start behaving like decent human beings then people will patronize these events. For the past two years you look at the newspapers. Killing, killing and more killing and corruption, corruption and more corruption. Local Trinis are just fed up. Many don't want to risk their lives of the roads for carnival. Today in TrinIdad after 5:00pm on carnival days, everybody pack up and try to head for home quickly before its gets to dark, fear they may be mugged etc. Foreigners who you see for example, playing pan for top steelbands, don't experience this in their countries. Despers ran from their community due to constant violence in their areas, most end in death. Trinis enjoy themselves more at carnivals up the Caribbean islands. Its safer, people are also more friendly.
I think that people are beginning to see more clearly what some of us been trying to say for years now , in so many different ways.....