Socadrome patrons urged to donate to NGO

There is excitement among stakeholders for the return of the Socadrome this year, not only to be out on the road after two years of no Carnival, but to make mas and, once again, keep the legacy they created alive.

The Socodrome will be held on Carnival Tuesday at the Jean Pierre Complex, Port of Spain from 9 am to 4 pm. There will be performances by Black Sage and Lingo, Olatunji, Gypsy, Mical Teja, Ding Dong and All Stars Steel Orchestra, and bands Harts, Bliss, Pure, Yuma, Tribe, and Rogue will be crossing the Socadrome stage.

There will also be a stage production called The Return starring Kevon Brooks as a father, and Jonathan Thatcher as his son about the rekindling of the love for Carnival, which will take place throughout the day.

Tribe bandleader Dean Ackin told Sunday Newsday, “The Socadrome is one space and one place to see all the various elements of Carnival. Besides the pretty mas bands you have traditional characters, you have steelpan, you have tassa, rhythm sections, extempo, calypso, you have soca. So it’s one place to see a full show throughout the day.

“The Socadrome was conceptualised at its early stages because of a decades-long problem of four and five-hour waits heading to one big stage, the savannah. It’s not a good experience for masqueraders.”

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So, about nine years ago the Socadrome was created as the second “big stage” for masqueraders to complement the Queen’s Park Savannah stage. In this way, some bands would go to the savannah in the morning and later visit the Socadrome and vice versa, creating a freer flow of bands.

He said stakeholders realised what has been dubbed the mother of all carnivals would “possibly be chaos” without the Socadrome so everyone worked hard together to ensure it was back.

And the bands’ masqueraders were excited to return to the road and the stages, anticipating a good experience.

“I’m extremely happy that it continues to be part of the Carnival. It was something that was piloted by Yuma and Tribe so we are happy that we were able to contribute to and improve the overall TT Carnival experience.”

He added that most of the participating bands would attempt to go to the main stage at the savannah if there was time, and invited other bands who wished to cross the Socadrome stage to contact Tribe.

He said next year, the organisers also planned to put extra resources into the experience to expand on it.

“The Socadrome has so much potential, not only to be used on Carnival Tuesday but maybe the entire weekend for different things. It could be used for a kiddies mas, a steelpan festival.

“So once we get it back on track, I think, for 2024, we will be looking to build on what we already have.”

Yuma's public relation officer Acacia de Verteuil said her band was happy that it could continue the legacy it created with Tribe.

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“There are no two ways about it, we’re really excited to be back. We’re glad to get back out on the road to give masqueraders exactly what they’re looking for as it relates to Carnival, to feel that energy that we’ve been missing for the past two years.”

She was also happy that the Ministry of Tourism saw the value in the Socadrome and pledged to remain a title sponsor for the next three years.

This year, she said, the Socadrome producers aligned the event to a non-governmental organisation, The Shelter, in support of battered women and children so all proceeds will go towards the organisation. And while there is no cover charge, they are asking people to donate towards the cause.

“We really would like to see Carnival, not just in the sense that everybody has fun and a good time and just contribute only to the culture, but we have to recognise there are vulnerable groups in society that can benefit from the activity that is Carnival.

“And women and children do play a significant role in Carnival on the whole so we’re really excited to do something like this to allow them to benefit.”

She explained that Yuma engages in corporate social responsibility initiatives every year including beach clean-ups, and donating to homes, families, and NGOs.

“We are really happy to rope this into the Socadrome effort because it will be an even more concerted effort with a larger impact than what we would have been doing on our own previously.”

Yuma’s presentation, Awakened Treasure, is about the things they felt were suppressed during the pandemic when they were “forced to be asleep.”

“We’re talking about things like jewels and gems, feelings of love and envy, and other significant things we felt were stifled during the pandemic. In bringing this theme we found a way to take about the positive and negative things that weren’t being talked about.”

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Also ready and raring to go was Tribe’s creative director Valmiki Maharaj since he, and many other mas designers, started designing their 2023 costumes even before the Carnival was announced, not knowing if the costumes would be on the road.

“It would have been naive to think we could come out after having the car shut down for two years that we wouldn’t have to do a little tune-up. Many of us in the industry are operating on adrenaline, prayers and good faith.

“But I feel very blessed. Every day I get up and thank God for being here and allowing us to be back out.”

He said the Socadrome was a very special place to him. He said each judging stage had a “different energy.” He said Tribe usually crossed the Downtown stage when the sun was rising, the savannah stage when the sun was high in the sky, and Socadrome when the sun was setting, closing off the Carnival for his band.

“It’s a place where our masqueraders love to go play themselves and let go because it’s a performance to party, not for judging. There’s a particular part of the route where the masqueraders feel the most free and different. It just has its own energy.”

He said Tribe was presenting A New Dawn, showcasing a tribe in a post-pandemic, post-apocalyptic world with bright yet edgy, primal, elemental designs. Lost Tribe’s presentation, 202WE, is an ode to the future with each section designer portraying what they want the future to include.

“Our band has something called mesh match where we wanted masqueraders to have the freedom to feel comfortable in their own skin. So each of the nude mesh that’s used is being tailored into three shades of meshes to match different skin tones.”

He said he felt strongly about doing that after the pandemic so that each masquerade would feel that the Carnival was their own.

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"Socadrome patrons urged to donate to NGO"

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