San Fernando parade of bands goes back to Cipero Street

San Fernando masqueraders will return to parading along Cipero Street and Renzi Kirton Highway for this year's Carnival.

San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris said bandleaders were not ready for the change which saw the bands parade from King's Wharf to Lady Hailes Avenue on Carnival Monday and Tuesday last year.

Speaking at the launch of San Fernando Carnival at the San Fernando Yacht Club on January 17, Parris said last year stakeholders agreed to a change in the parade route but the decision did not work out and bandleaders decided they are moving the parade back to the original route.

This year’s Carnival for San Fernando is dubbed Impact, Redefined.

Bandleaders in attendance applauded Parris’ announcement to take the parade of bands down Cipero Street.

Parris said, “We would see something totally different this year, but what we need is to be united. I have been around long enough to understand that everyone wants to be heard, so I’m asking that we come together and make this Carnival, impact, redefined. Carnival isn’t about the San Fernando Carnival Committee, it’s not about the mayor of San Fernando, it’s about the people. We tried something last year in terms of a route that you the bandleaders decided that you wanted to do. I sat back, I listened and I watched, but this year we have the innovative marketing team put up questions on social media and they brought the results to me. I guess the experiment of the wharf wasn’t something that we want now but I’m certain that it would be the route of the future and therefore we will bring it back to Cipero Street. Last year you all set me up, this year l ain’t setting me up again because you all chose the route last year.”

He said the carnival committee was putting people together to come up with innovative ideas to make it work for the San Fernando Carnival. He said San Fernando is the second city of Trinidad but it was still described as a regional body for Carnival.

He said the committee has experienced challenges in the past but they have joined "the old and the young" to get favourable results. Parris said a lot of emphasis was placed on sponsorship and they have put together a marketing and public relations team who are doing an “excellent job.”

Carnival bandleader Ayana Kalicharan-Mahase said bandleaders welcomed the shift of the parade route even though bandleaders had agreed to take the parade of bands along the foreshore at King’s Wharf, San Fernando last year.

She said going back to Cipero Street was the better option. She said measures must be put in place to ensure a smooth parade of bands for the masqueraders, bandleaders, and spectators' safety.

“Although we welcome it back, it would be nice that they put infrastructure in place to ensure we don’t have the bottleneck of spectators flowing onto the road, which is a security hazard. Bands coming down and the space is occupied by the spectators, and no room for revellers to move or even the King and Queen of the bands to parade effectively.” Kalicharan-Mahase said.

She said it was a good decision to revert the parade to the city.

“We (bandleaders) give him (Parris) an alternative that didn’t work out, but after the construction (of the waterfront project) is done maybe we can consider there again. But for the masqueraders and spectators, the viable option is Cipero Street. In the future, when the foreshore is finished, we can revisit the wharf. We are also hoping to have a nice jumping point at Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA).”