Fay Ann: Soca Monarch no longer just an event

FAY ANN Lyons-Alvarez, the newly-appointed chairman of the Caribbean Prestige Foundation, the owners of International Soca Monarch (ISM), has big plans for the annual competition and has called on corporate TT for sponsorship.

Asked about funding for the event, Lyons-Alvarez said she has to rely on corporate sponsors to “see what we are seeing and feel what we are feeling about the product and come forward with the real big purses and deliver.”

She said the prize money will be determined by how much funding the organisation gets. “You then have to split prize money with the infrastructure to put on the particular show.”

Asked about government funding, she said she was open to discussions with any ministry.

Lyons-Alvarez held a press conference at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, yesterday to discuss her appointment and possible changes to the show. She took over from Peter Scoon as chairman.

Soca Monarch founder William Monroe was present, as well as director of Caribbean Prestige Foundation Geoffrey Wharton-Lake. Lyons-Alvarez’s husband, Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez, was also there.

Munroe, who supported Lyons-Alvarez’s call, said the money put into Soca Monarch was an investment, funding was important, and every citizen should encourage the Government and the private sector to invest. “It is not a favour, it is an investment,” Munroe said.

Lyons-Alvarez, a former Soca Monarch winner herself, has big plans for the annual competition. In addressing a question of a rebranding, which saw Fantastic Friday promoted with a black and gold logo, she outlined some ideas she had in mind for ISM.

“We sat down and wondered how we can make Soca Monarch not just an event, but a destination Friday, where, when you hear Fantastic Friday, you don’t just think Soca Monarch, but you think the day of Soca Monarch.

We want, from 1am your mind, your energy, your vibe – everything must tune in to the competition and the Friday and everything surrounding the Friday.”

Lyons-Alvarez said the group was also exploring several different events all geared toward supporting and enhancing the ISM brand.

She added this would take time to structure, but “the seed needs to be planted now for people to understand that Soca Monarch is no longer just an event. Soca Monarch is a brand. That is Fantastic Friday.”

She added in a couple years there might be a Fantastic Friday calendar that could be put out, with a slew of Fantastic Friday events, with Soca Monarch at the centre.

She also spoke about a number of ideas such as reality TV, and said, “I want to see Fantastic Friday paraphernalia.”

Asked if she intended to make Soca Monarch like international music festivals, Lyons-Alvarez said Soca Monarch is already a music festival which sees regional and international artistes perform.

“It is one of the biggest music festivals you could have found in the Caribbean. We now have to figure out out to inject the new blood, use the social media, use the platform and technology available to us to get the world to know what we already know.

“We need people to come to the shores of Soca Monarch.”

She said TT needed people to come to the Soca Monarch but also “to take away something when they leave.”

Stressing again the need for more funding, she went on, “If we want to see something in a particular light then it has to be funded in a particular light to get that....” Registration for the competition begins on January 21 and ends on January 25. Semi-finalists will be announced on January 26 and the semi-finals held on February 10 at the Arima Velodrome.

Fantastic Friday will be held on March 1 at the Queen’s Park Savannah.