Back to bacchanal

THE SUGGESTION made by Pan Trinbago president Beverly Ramsey-Moore that the children's Carnival should be moved to make way for holding only the Panorama competition at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Saturday was tactless and surprising.

The National Carnival Commission (NCC) and the organisers of the festival should be open to change. Anything that can improve the festival going forward should be embraced, not resisted. Without advancements, our Carnival, which is only now getting back on its feet after the interregnum of the pandemic, will be left behind. But change should not be at the sacrifice of one key element over the other.

While Ms Ramsey-Moore was right on Saturday to be frustrated by the late start of the Panorama final, the blame for this should not be placed on the Junior Parade of Bands. She attributed this to a “security sweep” that had to be done of the venue after the parade.

In truth, there is no reason why the two events cannot be held on the same day and at the same venue with the requisite security checks being done. Ms Ramsey-Moore may be privy to information the public is not, but she must know that this is how Carnival Saturday has unfolded for decades now.

Saying a delay was caused by the need for security checks is unconvincing because presumably such checks have routinely been done at that very venue from time immemorial. It is hard to imagine, as well, the risk level shifting for the children’s event during the course of the day so rapidly that it requires security officials starting from scratch at 5 pm, two hours after the parade.

It is little wonder former TT Carnival Bands Association president Rosalind Gabriel has vowed to oppose all attempts to displace the junior parade from the Savannah, rightly pointing out that the children need their time too.

Logistical problems seemed to plague all of last week’s major events, in both the private and public spheres.

One day after Panorama’s late start, Dimanche Gras got off to a spirited start and then faltered.

Dimanche Gras has been around, in one form or another, since 1948. But you would not be able to tell that judging from Sunday’s bloated and overlong show. It's time to decide if it's for the finals of the Calypso Monarch and King and Queen of Carnival, or a musical. There have been attempts at this before with the finals held the week before, leaving Carnival Sunday for a winners' showcase. It may be something to consider again.

This year's Calypso Monarch finals featured a dozen calypsonians. Each sang only one song, but there were several guest performers who stretched things out quite a lot.

One such performer was Machel Montano, whose own highly-anticipated One Show concert also started late on Friday and was deemed as poorly organised.

It is disappointing that the return of the festival this year has featured the return of bacchanal of the wrong kind.