Event planner: Tobago must stage own Carnival

A private group led by marketing and events co-ordinator Kevon McKenna hopes to plan and stage a Tobago Carnival.

For many years conversations were had about Tobago having its own Carnival but nothing has yet materialised.

Speaking with Newsday last week, McKenna, 36, who is planning to host, what he called, a stakeholders’ conversation to thrash out the issue, said it’s time to change the narrative on the Carnival festivities.

“I have paid very close attention to the Carnival product offered in Tobago and these related discussions. As a result of my interest in Tobago’s Carnival product, and amidst these discussions, I was inspired to commence and complete a Masters in Arts & Carnival Studies."

He said the covid19 pandemic has completely altered the commercial landscape and has given Tobago another opportunity to offer a cultural and commercial product different from that already on offer in Trinidad, both in terms of time and substance. The consultation is scheduled for 4.30 pm on Thursday at the Scarborough Library.

During his tenure as minister of arts and multiculturalism in the former People's Partnership administration, Winston “Gypsy” Peters raised the issue.

In 2019, Peters, now wearing the hat of chairman of the National Carnival Commission, said he holds firm to his belief that a Tobago Carnival must be established as a permanent feature of the island's cultural identity.

Then Peters said a Tobago Carnival, in October, could surpass its Trinidad equivalent in terms of profitability. As Peters sees it, Tobago Carnival, in its existing state, "is losing out big in having its Carnival together with Trinidad Carnival."