Calypso Fiesta fan zone coming to Sando

“A fan zone within the week.”

That’s how San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello described the launch of the Calypso Fiesta Festival which was created to maximise the benefits to hosting calypso’s biggest event – the Calypso Fiesta.

The festival week will begin on February 20 with a cocktail reception for sponsors and contestants.

A motorcade throughout San Fernando is expected to take place on Thursday followed by a soca concert on Friday.

The festivities conclude on Fiesta Saturday where contestants will compete for a spot in the National Calypso Monarch finals.

Regrello was addressing a media conference, jointly hosted by TUCO, the Calypso Fiesta Limited and the San Fernando City Corporation at City Hall chambers, Harris Promenade yesterday.

“The fiesta is the community where we all come together, we eat from each other’s pot or basket. It is the picnic where all the calypso community come and meet and greet, so we need to extend this event so we can maximise the opportunity.

“In the fiesta, they come down from all over in droves to the park and leave at the end of the evening and we don’t seem to benefit from it. So we are creating our own build up, our own atmosphere.”

“We have created a fan zone within the week. We have the diaspora coming home and coming to San Fernando and they are looking for events to attend.”

The fan zone is expected to consist of a “blue zone” spanning 10.2 kilometres, with Skinner Park at the centre of the surrounding communities of Cipero Street, Coffee Street, Royal Road and the San Fernando promenade.

TUCO marketing manager Lennox London said the zone will be decorated with approximately 102 to 204 promotional flags of the various stakeholders, corporate and festival sponsors.

Also Regrello, who was asked about subventions from the National Carnival Commission (NCC), said he had a meeting with NCC chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters who promised to review the figures after he reportedly acknowledged that the figures given to him were inaccurate.

“The $400,000, which we received in 2018, cannot cut it and he said he would address that issue and I am waiting on him to respond.

“We stated with $1.2 million for 2014 to 2016 and then in 2017 we got 800,000, and last year $400,000 and it is against that background where we have this initiative so we can raise revenue.”

He said all of the corporation’s financial statements and reports have been submitted to the NCC.