Late start, limited bands in Scarborough

The senior parade of the bands got off to an exceptionally late start in Scarborough, Tobago, on Carnival Tuesday.

The event, which brought the curtain down on the island's carnival activities, was scheduled to begin at 11am but did not get under way until around 4pm. By 5pm, only three bands had crossed the judging points at Old Market Square, Wilson Road and Bar Code on Milford Road.

On Carnival Tuesday, Tobago Festivals Commission CEO John Arnold lamented the late start to many of the local Carnival events. He urged people to respect people's time.

Radio Tambrin's Happy Lost Sailors was the first band to parade before the judges. The masqueraders, some of whom were tourists, wore both black and white and coloured sailor outfits. Although a small band, the masqueraders thoroughly enjoyed the music which blared from music trucks and strategically located speaker boxes.

Olatungi's Engine Room and Bunji Garln's Hard Fete were popular with the revellers. Happy Lost Sailors was followed by Stoute Next Generation's Mama This Is Mas: A Tribute To Gloria Stoute, and Culture Creators' Tradition, Heritage and Culture. The latter was led by Marla Williams and designed by Patsy Bobb. Like Happy Lost Sailors, it featured a handful of sailors, dame Lorraines and other Carnival characters.

Lou Ann Melville and Associates Wings of Peace also went down well with spectators, who had waited for hours in the sun to experience mas through the streets of the capital. A woman told Newsday she was disappointed with the late start. Viewing videos of the parade of the bands in Trinidad, she declared, "Yuh see how down there ram out? What happen to the mas up here?" She said the THA should not participate in the national festival in February but focus on the October carnival. Other spectators echoed similar sentiments. Some observed that the majority of the bands did not have many masqueraders.

The island hosted its inaugural carnival from October 28-30 last year. Some 11 bands were registered for Tuesday's parade.