Mas man Fareid Carvalho stands up for a Taste of Carnival

This is going to be Fareid Carvalho's 22nd attempt to win the King of Carnival. But this year is different from all others. While Carvalho does want the title, entering the competition is about showing his support for the Government's A Taste of Carnival.

The highest he has placed in the competition is third.

The playwright, masquerader, actor and producer was shocked at the amount of negative comments and naysayers there were to the Taste of Carnival.

"Last year, we had no Carnival and I was grieving. Carnival is in my blood, it is in all of our blood...

"I am not politically affiliated at all, I don't even vote. However, I think being in this Government's position is very hard because it is, 'damn if you do and damn if you don't,'" he said in an interview at one of his camps at Alfredo Street, Woodbrook.

"Last year you had no Carnival, you had nothing, you were upset. Now that they are trying something – A Taste of Carnival – they are upset. So you can't really win."

To Carvalho, a half loaf is better than none.

The Government announced this year that the country would host a Taste of Carnival which would showcase different elements of the annual festival; mas, pan and calypso.

While some people expressed the view that the Government should have waited until 2023, Carvalho said, given the ever-evolving nature of the virus, anything could happen and there could also not be a Carnival 2023.

"They are trying now, give them a chance. Added to which we can use this as a stepping-stone."

While the short timeline has proven challenging, it has also fuelled Carvalho's creativity.

"For me, as a creative, the pressure is working. Logistically it is a little challenging. Normally we have four months in advance to prepare an actual king costume.

"Yes, I am a little dismayed at the last-minute announcement but we can do it and we are doing it," he said.

To create his costume in the limited space of time, Carvalho has four teams at four different locations working 24/7 to construct the costume. He also has the different locations to ensure that he keeps within the covid19 guidelines and has his 30-member team physically distant. The team has also been using technology (video conferencing) to ensure that each is in sync with the other.

He was thankful to the Government, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell, and president of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Bands Association (TTCBA) Rosalind Gabriel for their collective effort in putting together a Taste of Carnival.

To him, the consequences of not hosting any kind of event is dire.

He said many other countries and carnival organisers are seeking to grab TT's Carnival spot.

"Other countries are trying to rain and grasp on to our parade."

He said during the week of TT's proposed Carnival, Miami plans to host a Caribbean food festival with five or six events. Carvalho said there were talks that there would also be shows and costumes.

He said these other carnivals were also already taking TT artistes, not only musicians but designers and make-up artistes.

"You can't get upset. You are not getting work here. They have to feed, they have to eat. So if they are getting revenue up there, they will go."

He also believes that many people are missing the economic angle of how important it is to host an event like the Taste of Carnival.

He said people who were commenting negatively about the Taste of Carnival may have a steady job or a regular income that many in the creative industry do not have.

Carvalho said as an artiste he has not worked for the past 11 months.

"Are they even stopping to think about the small man? What about the wirebender, the seamstress, the make-up artist, the graphic artist, the performers?"

Carvalho is also the owner of Carvalho Theatre and his dancers and actors were in difficulty.

While some have said the hosting of Carnival should have been done virtually, Carvalho does not believe it would have been successful.

He said he tried pay-per-view during the pandemic but Trinidadians weren't for it.

Carvalho said some of the negative commenters were hypocritical, highlighting that some of these same people paid a lot of money to visit other carnivals. He said some people he knew went to Miami for carnival.

A Taste of Carnival is also an opportunity to set the template for how future carnivals can be done during pandemic and other public crises.

Budgets for kings and queens costume range between $80,000 to $150,000 and even though he has managed to keep his budget at $81,000 so far (at the time of writing), many of the products and services needed to make the costume have increased because of the pandemic.

He said a sheet of plywood that once cost $225 is now $475.

But for Carvalho it is a passion and he "loves playing roulette." His family is also into Carnival.

He felt the need to speak out since he found that other artistes were not sticking up for the initiative.

While around the globe, many countries are easing restrictions completely, Carvalho said he agrees that it should only be a taste of Carnival and nothing more to ensure that TT's healthcare system can withstand and adequately deal with new and ongoing covid19 cases.

For him, a Taste of Carnival is a blessing in disguise

He is also doubly excited about the possibility of a Carnival in Tobago come October.

"Normally, Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival is at the same time. It is hard to pick. It is like a catch 22 but it is an opportunity to create jobs. I think with this Taste of Carnival, it will give tourists and international suppliers a chance to see that we can do something."

With it being some months away, this gives people time to book for Carnival in Tobago. He said he is also possibly looking at doing a costume for that as well.

Coming out of this, he also wants to engage Mitchell on how TT could take its culture even further on the world's stage.

He said his only concern about A Taste of Carnival was that he did not know if the audience would come out to support the artistes.

"I really hope they do. I know people are scared and they have a right to be. We had an initial meeting and the organisers are going to be following all protocols," he said.

When a Taste of Carnival was confirmed, Carvalho immediately went into work mode and he went to Toco for two days. In that weekend, the idea came to him. He conceptualised the idea, did a line drawing and then went to his wirebender.

From there, he got fabric swatches and did a colour drawing. He added because Carnival suppliers did not have time to bring in products, he had to be creative and use alternative material like chicken coop wire.

Come February – when the Senior Kings and Queens preliminaries are held – Carvalho and his costume will be hitting the Queen's Park Savannah stage in Port of Spain.

All he asks is that TT stands behind its artistes like he is standing behind A Taste of Carnival.