Panorama medium-band final in Tobago again

THA Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris has announced that the 2023 National Panorama medium band finals will again be held in Tobago.

“We had a meeting with Pan Trinbago this morning (Thursday) and I am pleased to officially announce that the national medium-band finals will be held in Tobago once again. So that is something that we as a people can look forward to,” she said at the post-executive council media briefing.

Burris commended Pan Trinbago president Beverly Ramsey-Moore for “putting Tobago first and foremost in ensuring that we can again be the host of that medium-band final.”

Tobago hosted the medium-band Panorama final for the first time in 2020 at the Parade Grounds, Bacolet.

Saying Tobago will be involved in the national carnival in February, Burris said a decision on how that participation would look has not yet been taken.

“Some conversations need to be had with our major stakeholders with respect to how the Carnival in February would look, because the reality is that we do not want to have two carnivals that look exactly the same just happening at two different times during the year.

“So we don’t want to pre-empt those discussions, because people may have ideas already in their mind relative to what previously happened.

"But the idea for February Carnival is for us to evolve out of what we have normally seen and it is time for us to innovate, in terms of how do we have events and activities that are in synergy with the national festival and not competing with it.”

Burris said Tobago still has to carve out a space in the midst of the national celebration.

“Certainly, we do not want to do that – but nobody comes to witness it or nobody supports it. We don’t want to be spending money for spending money’s sake. We really want that whatever we invest in for February has impact and can be felt across the island.”

Saying the model may look different from what people are used to, Burris said those conversations will be led by the Tobago Festivals Commission Ltd.

The consultations with stakeholders are expected to take place later this month.

“By the end of that process, we will be able to announce comprehensively what the plan for February carnival is going to look like.”

Burris also said that an announcement will soon be made on the artistes who will perform at the Tobago Jazz Experience in April 2023.