Mayor: Lunch brings lull to downtown Carnival

In spite of 98 bands passing throughout the downtown Port of Spain stage, there was a noticeable lull on Carnival Tuesday. Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez attributed that to bands choosing to have lunch in parks.

At a press conference for the announcement of results for Downtown Carnival at City Hall on Wednesday, Martinez said, "There was a lot of splendour and colour on Tuesday. But there was a lull in between. The lull came because of lunch. A lot of bands congregate their bands for lunch in parks. The only park we have is Woodford Square. The closest after that is Lord Harris Square."

Martinez did not see a problem with this lull as he said there was activity in downtown Port of Spain with many patrons enjoying the show from the stands.

"There was a lot of activity aside from the lull. It was colourful and exciting," he said.

Newsday reported on Wednesday that vendors and safety officials said turnout was low on both Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

Regardless of the turnout, Martinez said, spectators felt safe throughout the city and he was pleased with the support received from the TT Police Service (TTPS).

"When you looked around and spoke with people on the streets, they were very comfortable with the city. They were happy, they were praising the Commissioner of Police for the job that was done. A lot of people in the city were saying they have not felt as comfortable as they felt yesterday (Carnival Tuesday) for the Carnival season. That was a plus for us."

Councillor Stephen Harper, who will be the chairman of the Downtown Carnival Committee next year, said downtown Carnival was not dying and he would work with the bands to ensure that.

He said another reason for the lull could be that the route was longer this year and appealed to the bands to go to downtown Port of Spain after they leave the Socadrome in Mucurapo in the future.

This year, 165 Kiddies Carnival bands came out to downtown Port of Spain, while 98 adult bands turned out on Tuesday. Alderman Wendell Stephen, this year's chairman of the Downtown Carnival Committee said those numbers were greater than last year's figures.