Oh Parang at Ohana

OHANA Restaurant at Rodney Road, Chaguanas, was elegantly decorated – presenting a clean, modern mixture of decor aesthetics. The space looked like a winter wonderland with white-painted stalks embellished with cherry-red beads, sprinkled with icicle lights.

Oh Parang was held on December 2 and patrons were welcomed to a space in which the decor setting a festive tone for a night of excitement, togetherness and parang.

Managing director of Ohana Restaurant Neeala Mongroo said the event was the first of its kind since the business opened earlier this year, and it was greater than anticipated. She said the turnout gave positive reviews on the performances and ambience, that warmed her heart.

The night of parang was hosted by Rome who also performed his soca parang hits Annie and his latest single Apoo.

Music by Mazel the sound master kept the energies high throughout the event, leading up to the musical desert of parang by Voces de Promesa, a band of young paranderos. The group performed a number of songs including crowd favourite Anda Parrandero. The performances had the patronage of a wide age range, mostly the younger age groups, dancing and singing along.

One patron, Ramona Sirju from Port of Spain, said she was impressed with the event and thoroughly enjoyed the music and vibe.

"We wanted to have an event that I knew my customers and other patrons would enjoy." Mongroo said she thought it was of great value to maintain what she referred to as strong-tower traditional elements of TT culture.

"I thought me being a young person, I have a duty to carry on the tradition. I thought if marketed the right way, we could have patrons, especially the younger audience come out to enjoy a nice parang event, and not think of parang as something that is outdated."

She said she hopes to hosts similar events within the season. However, the restaurant has been booked for a number of corporate events, but the public will be kept in the loop via social media.

Mongroo said she received requests for the parang event to become an annual one, so she looks forward to what the future has in store.