Keep bikini bands off QPS stage

THE EDITOR: I commend Dr Errol Benjamin's letter of February 28 emphasising that the people of TT are happy with a unique Carnival spirit.

As he pointed out, after having a whale of a time, what happens the next day when Carnival ends? Crime and wrongdoings are still being reported daily.

But our multinational culture is special and we mix well and are known to be a friendly, generous people.

We owe our unique Carnival spirit and any success to the clever people involved in the mas and entertainment from 30 years ago. Too many to name here, but coming to mind are Peter Minshall, the Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener, and the list goes on.

Since then the Carnival bandleaders and designers have been, year after year, selling the same Las Vegas costumes in different colours – a bikini with feathers and beads costing $1,500 plus for women to show off their bosoms and behinds.

Those bands should never be allowed to be judged for Band of the Year or People's Choice, or even to jump across the Queen's Park Savannah stage. Only bands with costumes with new designs each year, with a theme, or depicting history, etc should be allowed on stage to enjoy themselves and add to the Carnival spectacle.

Wilfred Strasser was known for his magnificent floats at Carnival in the 1950s. In one such masquerade he was disguised in costume on a float depicting a British shilling. The display was so perfect that one could not see that he was part of the shilling. That was true creative Carnival mas.

Revellers and some organisers today are too young to remember what great costumes looked like in those old days of true TT Carnival glory. I am therefore suggesting that the National Carnival Commission hires those Carnival greats still with us to help save our Carnival.

They can pass on their knowledge to the bandleaders and designers for Carnival 2024 and beyond. Only then can TT be able to claim to have "The Mother of All Carnivals."

PATRICIA BLADES

via e-mail