Tribe holds SunsetWKN to mark dawn of Carnival 2025

The group of bands known as Tribe will be among the earlier bands to reveal presentations for Carnival 2025 in its SunsetWKN.

The weekend, from July 5-7, is packed with not only costume reveal but theatre, traditional mas, food and tech. It will start from 3-8 pm at Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook.

Tribe’s creative director Valmiki Maharaj said July 5 will be the group’s Sunset Stage, formerly known as Sunset Theatre. He said different aspects of Trinidad and Tobago’s culture not usually seen on Carnival’s centre stage will be shown there.

The park will be segmented into four major areas highlighting food, traditional characters and theatre.

There will be a Moko Stage where traditional Carnival characters will perform and workshops on stilt-walking will be given.

At the art stage, artistes will be doing 2D and 3D murals.

On the main stage, facing Ariapita Avenue, there will be short plays throughout the afternoon telling the story of Carnival and Woodbrook, Maharaj said.

“Sunset Stage has taken the concept of Sunset Theatre – which was our evening parade-into-party – and transferred it into an afternoon, community, family-day activity.”

Maharaj promised a surprise at the formal end of the event, along with a performance by an artiste.

Costumes for the four bands will be revealed at SunsetWKN’s Launch Land.

Maharaj described it as a "container city" where people could experience the themes of the four bands (Tribe, The Lost Tribe, Bliss and Harts). Previously, bands Pure and Rogue also formed part of the Tribe group.

Launch Land will be at the North Park, Queen’s Park Savannah, from 7 pm-1 am. This event launches a Tribe masquerader's Carnival year,and not just costumes, Maharaj said.

“What we are building is a Carnival amusement park or a Carnival playground. When you enter the space and you see everything around you, you should feel like you are in a different space altogether.”

"The Road is the Stage" is the central thought behind Tribe’s Carnival 2025. The concept takes the feeling and energy masqueraders get from individual competition stages and personifies that, he said.

Launch Land’s construction was also built from that idea. A major feature is its use of immersion and gamification. Tribe has always been a tech-forward, savvy brand and will lean more into this for its 2025 events, he said. So at Launch Land on July 6, people will be able to experience the themes of each band through playing games on touchscreens.

Using Harts as an example, Maharaj said the band has a gemstone-based theme and there will be "gamification," adding gaming mechanics to non-game environments. People will be able to win merchandise and entry to other competitions as well through these games, he added.

Some of the groups’ other innovations will be revealed as the year progresses.

On the group’s use of technology within its bands, Maharaj said the idea of immersion and making sure the masqueraders feel they are inside something or part of something is key to the concept.

“Even the experiences in the Friday Park are designed for you to interact with traditional characters and forms and food, but in a participatory way rather than as an audience member. More than seeing heritage and culture on a stage and looking at it, we want you to interact with it so you understand it from a different point.”

The Carnival group has held meetings with the Woodbrook community about the weekend.

“Over the last three years, in the lead-up to where we are at right now with SunsetWKN, we have had a series of meetings with different stakeholder groups, inclusive of Woodbrook residents, town hall, City of Port of Spain mayor’s office, police… and information from all those things over the years have led us to develop the product into the way and space it is.”

Maharaj said the group does not host a lot of events in Woodbrook and on the avenue close to residential areas, but usually stuck to the approved party spaces.

As The Lost Tribe’s bandleader, Maharaj said the band is celebrating its tenth anniversary come 2025 and its presentation will reflect that.The Lost Tribe 2025 will have ten sections that represent its years in existence. He said the ten years have been filled with many blessings, many awards and many struggles that have become learning opportunities.

“Our campaigns are going to describe and look at everything we have been through and seen over the past ten years,” Maharaj said.