Bringing the gayelle to Lost Tribe Feteyard

LOST TRIBE brought the gayelle energy to the city even as the real clash of sticks was underway in the rural Moruga village, as boismen (stickfighters) battled for a place in the National Stickfighting semifinals.

While there were no bloodied, battered or bruised bodies in sight, Feteyard paid homage to Trinidad and Tobago’s stickfighting legacy, also known as kalinda, by curating an experience for patrons that sought to harness the rhythmic, spiritualistic essence of this African tradition.

Against the backdrop of the Port of Spain skyline, the event on February 14 at Ansa car park, St Vincent Street –the nucleus of the fete – was a literal gayelle or stickfighting arena. It was here patrons screamed the lyrics to their favourite songs, danced, waved and pounded the gayelle floor as they enjoyed performances from top soca artistes including Yung Bredda, Mical Teja, Ding Dong, Coutain, Full Blown and Fay-Ann Lyons and Bunji Garlin.

Traditionally before a fight, the gayelle is sealed with puncheon rum to ward off spirits. While I did not observe this ritual taking place, the cooler fete had rum aplenty to possibly keep a legion of bad spirits away. The moko jumbies present, thankfully, seemed to remain unharmed.

The event, which typically encourages patrons to make a fashion statement reflecting traditional Carnival themes, saw feters showcasing their stickfighter swag. Bandanas, decorated bois (sticks) and chopsticks were among accessories of choice, while some patrons went all out – creating custom outfits, many of which seemed inspired by martial arts and, in some instances, even hinted at people’s favourite anime shows.

Patrons also had the option to purchase merchandise featuring varying bold prints like "Bois Man In De Road” and “Kambule,” at a well-stocked booth at the event.

Kevon Samuel, who has been attending Feteyard since its inception in 2023, didn’t have to work too hard to fit the theme.

“My design process was just seeing what pieces I had in my closet that fitted the theme, putting it together and see what works.”

Performances kicked off with Kambule, a presentation that encapsulated the energy of kalinda as it featured drumming, chanting and movement that is a staple at stickfighting and the Canboulay re-enactment on Carnival Friday.

Choreographed by Newsday columnist and founder of the Idakeda Group Dara Healy, the presentation featured both male and female stickfighters – a novelty, as stickfighters are usually exclusively male.

There was no lull in entertainment as patrons waited for the performances from artistes.

The 2024 Road March winner, Mical Teja, reignited the energy from the crowd with his aptly titled 2025 offering, Energy.

Yung Bredda kept the energy up as he opened with his hit The Greatest Bend Over and had the crowd singing along as he sang a few popular chutney songs.

When the instrumental for the possible Road March contender, Carry It, started playing, heralding Bunji Garlin’s performance, the crowd erupted. His wife, Fay-Ann Lyons, kept the momentum going as the crowd went wild as she sang Road Meeting and some of her other hits.

Patrons were so high off the euphoric and immensely nostalgic performance that despite some technical difficulties during the set, their energy remained as they savagely pounded on the gayelle floor and chanted “Bunji,” to summon the artiste back to the stage and after a short delay, he returned to their delight.

Lost Tribe designer Atiba Borde described Feteyard as a place where tradition meets the future.”

“It’s everything the Lost Tribe is bottled into a fete experience.

He was particularly thrilled with the artistes' performances.

“Every year the Lost Tribe tries to create unique experiences for everyone involved and I think this year the artistes performed in the ring like if they were having the time of their lives. It looked like it brought out a childlike joy in them, particularly Bunji and Fay-Ann. They were having fun so the crowd had fun!”

Creative director of Lost Tribe Valmiki Maharaj said Feteyard will always be themed by different facets of Carnival as “a wider art form, a wider celebration.”

“A lot of care needs to be given when paying respects to our traditional characters. Their positioning, their placement, what they stand for, and also to how one translates that into the language of today – the language of today's masquerader, today's diaspora.”

He said he was inspired by what the gayelle represents: “What happens there in that space, what stickfighters and kalinda stands for and what happens in the art form. I think it is something that was very appropriate for right now where we are in as a society.

“I think as Carnival stakeholders we have a responsibility to our Carnival, a responsibility to our heritage, and a responsibility to our country to make sure that we keep these elements alive through our work.

“It's only by respecting heritage that we can guarantee a stronghold in our future and a successful future…You have to know where you come from to know where you going, and I think that's really important.”

Reminiscing on his days as Queen’s Royal College student liming in the capital city, Maharaj said hosting the event in Port of Spain is intentional as he hopes to “reignite and reexplore our relationship” with the city.

“Port of Spain feels like that cosmopolitan space. It makes you feel like when you go away to party in those big cities and you're always in those city centres and I always feel like you know, we have that too.

“I think our city is a really beautiful space.”

When asked if he believes fete culture is losing its grassroots essence, Maharaj said while he doesn’t deny things feel different, Carnival’s cultural core remains. He said there are a lot more events available to cater to different types of patrons.

“I could go to an all-inclusive, a super all-inclusive somewhere as well as I can go to pan, not even pan in the stands but I could go on the drag…I can go to a panyard to lime and then I could go to a cooler fete and I feel like I would enjoy every single one.

“This very much to me represents that Lost Tribe archetype of person who just loves going out with their friends in different spaces, different places. So, I don’t personally think that we have lost it but I think if you only at one segment of events you could say that. We need to look at all the different types of events that are happening and that are available for patrons.”

Maharaj said this year people can expect a ten-year multiplication of the Lost Tribe vibe.

“If you're playing Lost Tribe by yourself, you're playing mas with your family. If you're playing with two friends, you're playing mas with your family and similarly, if you're playing mas as part of a wider group, you're playing mas with your family.

“It's a space where everybody could find themselves, find comfort and find freedom, and I look forward to not only welcoming our ten years of masqueraders with us on the road, but I look forward to what the next ten years will be and the new masqueraders we will gain along the way.”