THA IN TALKS FOR SEPARATE CARNIVAL

The cancellation of Carnival 2021 came as no shock to THA Chief Secretary and Secretary of Tourism and Culture Ancil Dennis

But he said a separate Tobago carnival might possibly be held.

On Monday, the Prime Minister announced the cancellation of Carnival 2021 owing to covid19. He said he saw no future for Carnival 2021 in TTT in the months ahead.

“Unless there’s some dramatic change in the wind that will blow across us by Christmas, Carnival is not on.”

Speaking with Newsday on Tuesday, Dennis said the announcement came as no surprise to him.

He said the country is at a very sensitive stage in the fight against the pandemic.

“We must continue to continue to conduct ourselves in a way that gives us the best chance to manage this crisis and to manage the spread of this very dangerous and deadly virus.”

But he said in the interim, the division, through the THA, will continue to advance the culture and the creative sector, within the restrictions and realities of the current situation.

“We look forward to having continued discussions on Carnival.

"As a matter of fact, that has started. We are in the process of discussing the possibility of a Tobago carnival separate and apart from the national Carnival, and of course we continue to look at ways and means in which we could continue to have cultural shows and cultural events even while observing the restrictions and observing the realities of the times,” he said.

He said tourism is not dead.

“Tourism is in a coma; it is not dead. At some point in time it would awaken and recover, and we in Tobago must continue to be prepared for that. So the development of the creative sector continues, the marketing of Destination Tobago continues, and we look forward to the time when we can return to some level of normalcy,” he said.

Carnival stakeholders on the island have repeatedly complained that Tobago’s Carnival has reached its ceiling and suffers in the shadow of its bigger and more glamorous Trinidad counterpart.

Co-chairman of the Tobago Mas Bands Leaders Terrence Sandiford said a separate Tobago carnival is something he has been lobbying for since 1998. Chairman of TUCO Tobago Ainsley King said Tobago has been in the dark, so this discussion is really late.

Head of Pan Trinbago’s Tobago region Salisha James said she had similar views.

Earlier this year, chairman of the National Carnival Commission Winston "Gypsy" Peters put the suggestion of a separate Tobago carnival back on the agenda, a plug he has been making since being the culture minister in the People’s Partnership government. Peters held talks on it with then-chief secretary Kelvin Charles.