By Raffique Shah January 09, 2019 I was pleasantly surprised when the announcement by the National Carnival Commission that it was scrapping the North Stand for this year’s Carnival did not elicit an uproar of objections from stakeholders in the national festival and hordes of party animals whose love for steelband music lasts one day—the … Continue reading The Carnival is over
By Raffique Shah February 09, 2016 I don’t think Trinidad’s Carnival is dying, as many people say it is. For the traditionalists, it’s a case of wishful thinking. They want to see the jarring noise that passes for music, songs that have no melody, only hook lines and tempo, consigned to the dustbin of Carnival … Continue reading Carnival in transition
By Corey Gilkes March 04, 2013 – trinicenter.com I had planned to make my first contribution for 2013 to be on the series of important film documentaries on Trinidad Carnival put on by the TT Film Festival, not least of which were the two on Minshall and the presentation given by Ray Funk. Some were … Continue reading The “Pontificat”: Akilah Holder’s ‘Carnival’ Article
We the people By Suzanne Mills February 17, 2013 – newsday.co.tt Everyone has the rights to Carnival except the people. Pan Trinbago cuts off our Panorama semi-finals; a newly formed, unknown copyright organisation warns revellers not to post pictures of themselves or their friends online; the NCBA and the government station wrangle over the streaming … Continue reading Carnival Copyright Concerns
By Raffique Shah February 10, 2013 WHATEVER our differing views on Carnival, one thing we can agree on is the heights of happiness that the festival engenders at all levels of the society. There is hardly a sourpuss left scowling as the music, the visuals and the spirit take possession of our beings, commanding us … Continue reading Carnival is happiness, harmony
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe February 22, 2012 I was stuck by Michael Narine’s post, “Culture is a ploy for more state money” and Newsday’s headline “Calypso gets $1M.” With that came a justification from Dr. Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool: “This is good for calypso. Calypso is the father of all different genres of music, so … Continue reading Carnival and Culture
By Selwyn R. Cudjoe March 09, 2011 Oh what a difference an election victory makes. For time immemorial we were told by some that the steelband could never be considered as the national instrument—there was always the dholak—and that carnival was not really the national festival. They always sought to convince us that devali was … Continue reading Plebian Carnival
By Derren Joseph September 16, 2010 On August 26th, there was an interesting article in the International Tourism press. President of the Sychelles, James Michel called upon his tourism industry to engage with the government to map out a new national tourism development plan. On the face of it there is nothing special about such … Continue reading Tourism from Carnival to Divali
By Raffique Shah February 21, 2010 CARNIVAL Friday night and I am driving to Port of Spain, my mind working like a Pentium computer chip. Which route do I choose to reach St James, my regular liming spot? Over the years I have learned that bumper-to-bumper traffic, not to add a virtual sea of early-bird … Continue reading Carnival: one foot in the grave