Pan Trinbago testing to restart regional competitions

As recently re-elected Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore readies the organisation for yet another Panorama, she has big plans for it including re-introducing regional competitions and helping Trinidad and Tobago to earn forex.

Ramsey-Moore and her team will launch the annual competition on November 17 at Phase II Pan Groove’s, Hamilton Street, Woodbrook, panyard.

Following the launch, the National Single Pan preliminaries will begin in the Northern Region on November 22 and continue in the Eastern, South/Central, and Tobago regions until November 30.

Carnival 2025 will be launched by the National Carnival Commission (NCC) on November 23, at the Drag, Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, with the theme, No Place Like Home.

The pan launch is one Ramsey-Moore is looking keenly toward, she said in a phone interview on November 7.

She said, “This year we are going to be doing the Eastern Region zonal finals under the patronage of the MP D’Abadie/O’Meara Lisa Morris-Julian. That is a new competition we will be introducing in the east, so the east bands have another bite of the cherry. We are going to declare an Eastern Region Panorama champion.”

The competition will be held in Arima.

Ramsey-Moore said the model was first introduced in the South/Central region during the 2024 Panorama, and the 2025 eastern event is a test for the reintroduction of the regional competitions.

“I think going forward, by 2026, we are going to be bringing back all of the regional championships because we think it is very important that the communities are involved.

“After seeing the performances of their bands in the preliminaries in the panyards, then we move everything north. We believe pan is a community soul and competition drives that kind of community pride and moving of the generations together,” she said.

The reintroduction of the regional competitions aims to stimulate and grow community spirit, she said.

As she progresses in her new term, Ramsey-Moore wants to focus on pan’s global ascendancy.

She began with “building out” Pan Trinbago’s marketing department to achieve this.

The organisation's newly-elected PRO and Desperadoes’ general manager Kwesi Moore has taken charge of the staff and was “working hard” on building out its external relations department, she said.

“What we are really doing in Pan Trinbago, since I have taken over as president, is to build out the administration. And whilst we would have built out administratively, our treasury department and then our marketing department, and now we are going to bring on a consultant, one that has foreign affairs experience.

“Maybe a retiree from the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs. We are scouting for that person now to come in and help connect us with the various missions abroad and to ensure that we get out there in terms of the promotion and the marketing.”

Ramsey-Moore said this move was two-fold as it would promote pan and bring in forex.

It was not only pan that she hoped to market and sell but also the skills and services of TT’s pannists, arrangers, musicians and tuners.

“What we have been doing also is to assist those pan bodies around the world to execute their Panorama.

“If you talk Panorama, and it is the TT model, then you would definitely need our services. We provide judges, we help in the tabulation, giving them the framework in which they can mark their scores, the scoresheets and sharing all of these ideas with them.”

Ramsey-Moore said Pan Trinbago had been visiting these countries and voluntarily assisting them.

“We have not been accepting any compensation or remuneration for that as yet. I am not saying it is going to remain like that all the time. For the moment, we are assisting those international organisations and regional organisations to build out their talent and skills in terms of the operationalisation of Panorama and getting it as close as possible to the original.”

She thanked Caribbean Airlines (CAL) for its support with this.

At the 2024 Panorama, the North Stand was oversubscribed and Ramsey-Moore then asked for a bigger North Stand.

Asked what measures were being put in place to address this next year, she said she had discussions with the National Carnival Commission (NCC).

“There is a great thirst out there for steelband music and vibes. As you know, this year, our theme is, ‘Pan for So, Feel the Power.’

“So there is this craving for Panorama over the last few years. I have already spoken to NCC and said, ‘We need to do something about that North Stand. The space now is not enough.’

“It seems as if the area has outgrown its usefulness and I am hoping something can be done. If we can get creative and innovative and find a way to bring additional people into the space.”

Ramsey-Moore said her team will have a look at the area with the intention of devising another idea of how to accommodate more people. She also asked the NCC to create more room on The Drag, Queen’s Park Savannah, to help grow the business of Panorama even more.

She said she was excited about the new season because there was a significant increase in the number of bands registered to participate in Panorama 2025. She could not immediately quantify the increase.

“We know, therefore, the products we are turning out now are really fantastic.”

Ramsey-Moore said she also thanked the people for their participation.

She added she was looking forward to a marvellous Panorama 2025.

Here are the events for Panorama 2025: -

November 2024

November 17: Panorama launch – Phase II Pan Groove, Hamilton Street, Woodbrook

National Single Pan Preliminaries

November 22-24: Northern Region

November 25-27: Eastern Region

November 28-29 - South/Central Region

November 30: Tobago Region

December 2024

National Single Pan Band Semifinals

December 7 – Arima Velodrome, Arima

December 14 –

National Single Pan Band Finals – Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain

January 2025

National Small Conventional Band Preliminaries

January 4-6: Northern Region

January 7-9: Eastern Region

January 10-12: South/Central Region

January 13-14: Tobago Region

National Small Conventional Band Semifinals

January 18: Victoria Square, Port of Spain

January 25: National Small Conventional Band Finals, Skinner Park, San Fernando

National Junior Panorama Preliminaries -

January 26-29: schools, panyards and communities.

February 2025

National Junior Panorama

February 2: Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain

National Medium Conventional Band Preliminaries

February 4-5: Northern Region

February 6-7: Eastern Region

February 8-9: South/Central Region

February 10: Tobago Region

National Large Conventional Band Preliminaries

February 6: Northern Region

February 7: Eastern region

February 8: South/Central Region

February 9: Tobago Region

National Medium and Large Conventional Band Semifinals - February 16: Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain

National Medium Band Finals

February 23: Dwight Yorke Stadium, Tobago.

March 2025

National Large Conventional Band Finals

March 1: Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain

March 3: J’Ouvert Morning Steelband Competitions and Pan on the Road -

March 4 : Pan on the Road

March 8: Carnival Lagniappe – Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain