David Rudder's concert kickstarts final week of Tobago carnival

DAVID RUDDER’S concert kicks off a packed week of activities as Tobago’s second carnival enters its final leg.

The three-hour concert – the highlight of Barcode’s I Love Soca series – is being held today at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex from 4 pm.

In April, Rudder, 70, told the media he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

On that occasion, he said his 7.0 concert, which was held in May at the Sound Forge, Mucurapo, would be his last major performance.

But today, Rudder, backed by a full band, is expected to perform several of his classics alongside other local acts, including MX Prime, Duvone Stewart, Adana Roberts, Sekon Sta and Gerard Balfour.

In other events, the opening of the carnival festival grounds takes place tomorrow on the Scarborough Esplanade.

There, visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of culinary delights as well as an art and craft exhibition, featuring indigenous pieces and other items. Lively entertainment is also expected to be provided at the venue throughout the week.

The Tobago Titans of Soca competition, one of the eagerly anticipated events of the season, is being held on the esplanade on October 25.

Roston Simon (Culture B), who won last year’s title with his song, Strong Rum, will face a dynamic line-up of competitors.

They are Jeffrey Thomas (Prince Unique); Jumaane “Jube” Cox; Omari “Tripp” Orr; Gerard Balfour; Caston Cupid; Bernardo “Tam Tam” Thompson; Jhervon “Royal” Jackson; Lyndon “D Dapper” Patterson; Anderson Mc Phee, and Adrian “Num Num” Isaac.

On October 26, all roads lead to the Cyd Gray Sporting Complex for Rox Glo. From there, party lovers can then head to Pigeon Point for the Hush cooler fete.

Mug Fest, Pan Trinbago’s Rhythm Steel and Powder and Vibes With Voicey (Aaron St Louis) are the major events scheduled to take place on October 27 in Bacolet, Scarborough and at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, respectively.

And on October 28, the capital city is expected to be transformed into a sea of mud with Mud Is Life and Tobago Dutty J’Ouvert’s presentations. The revelry continues in the evening with D’Masquerade (Night Mas) in Scarborough.

The parade of the bands, on October 29, brings the curtain down on Tobago carnival 2023.

Tobago October Carnival Association (TOCA) interim president Dexter Sandy told Sunday Newsday things are progressing smoothly.

“Everything is in full swing. Bands have stopped registration basically for pretty mas. We still have registration going on for J’Ouvert and they are reporting that we are getting good uptake in terms of sales. So we should see increased numbers on the road when compared with last year,” he said.

Sandy, bandleader of Iconic Mas, said some 14 bands have registered for conventional mas, 22 for J’Ouvert, seven for night mas and 11 for traditional mas.

He said TOCA has also spoken with the police about road management.

“All systems are go. The bands have been clustered and we have worked out our clusters in terms of how we are going on the road.”

All that’s left to do, Sandy said, is for masqueraders to collect their costumes.

“It is just to go into distribution phase right now. So we are really optimistic about the carnival.”

Zero tolerance from police

Tobago carnival gold commander ACP Collis Hazel said the police will be out in their numbers during the festivities, most of which are being held in Scarborough. He also advised those prone to criminal behaviour to resist the urge to carry out such activities.

“The police has upped its human resource on the island and clearly, we will be operating zero tolerance to anyone who feel that they want to in any way be that person who wants to be under our control for the festival,” he said.

THA Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris said she was satisfied with the marketing for this year’s Tobago carnival.

She said many more stakeholders from the island were involved in the process.

“We are happy with the level of engagement we have had so far and it means or us that the THA can step out of the role of owner, executor, implementer to sponsor and facilitator,” Burris said at a news conference on Wednesday.

She added the THA’s focus for next year’s carnival is bringing direct flights to Tobago from regional and international destinations.

Regarding actual marketing, Burris said a “save the date” was put out since last year’s carnival.

“I saw those jerseys as far as ITB (trade show) in (Berlin) Germany. That is how far the reach was.”

She also noticed that other carnivals have followed suit.

“So when we put out our save the dates last year, I noticed that crop over did the same this year. I noticed that spice mas did the same thing this year. It means that whatever marketing we are doing is having some impacts in the space.”

But Burris said there could have been more marketing.

“But you don’t want to market in a silo. We launched our google ads campaign last week.

So far we have already had two million clicks on those ads and 2000 clicks to the Welcome Tobago page. That is just for a campaign that launched last week. So imagine if we had started earlier.”

She argued marketing would be ineffective if there is no airlift to bring people to the island.

“That is still a challenge that we have to overcome.”

Burris believes there is a “huge audience for what we are trying to sell.

“There is a huge market of people who want to come to Tobago. And even if they can’t get here for carnival there are a number of other things happening in Tobago that they are welcomed to come and participate in.

“But we are hoping that people see the value in what we are trying to do. We don’t see it as event marketing for the carnival but destination marketing for Tobago and we will continue to market the destination holistically.”

The budget for the October Carnival has been estimated at $12,590,660. The sum covers subventions to interest groups, logistics, infrastructure and other related expenses for the event.

Last year, the THA had presented a budget of $17.5 million but spent between $12-$13 million.