Carnival in Trinidad

The famous Parade of Bands and the big final event of Carnival came almost as anti-climatic after a week of activities. The thousands of people, fabulous costumes and unrelenting Soca was as expected, but it was harder to be involved. Security persons with ropes surrounded the bands at many places and the crowds made it often impossible to get up close.







We sat at first in some bleachers near the first of the three judging stands at Adams Square. For several hours we watched Bands pass and saw two of the big groups there; "Resurrection of the Mas" and "Jewels of the Caribbean". The first was amazing and ended up winning that day so we felt lucky to have seen them performing.
Let me explain first what happens at the Parade of Bands.


First, a Band isn't a musical group. It may have a live band on a truck participating but most had huge sound trucks instead. For example the winning Band, owned by Brian McFarland, had more than ten trucks. They all play one song, in this case "Palance". The winning song is the one played by the most Bands.

"Palance" won by a land slide, having been played by over 400 Bands that day. Are you getting a hint of the size of this thing? So a theme is chosen by each Band. "Resurrection of the Mas" was inspired by the historical costumes of the period between 1880 and 1930, and rendered mainly in gold, bronze and copper colors. The Old Time Mas (that is the Trini word for Carnival) has a series of characters that represent historical figures or archetypes. The plantation owner's wife (above left) is one of these and her figure is an exageration of the classic T and A (tits and ass for those not familar with A Chorus Line).

Every Bands has it's own King and Queen and the latter is a classic example of this character. The Baby Doll is another figure representing the slave mistress of the owner and their child. The owner himself is all dressed up in formal wear, the overseer carries a big whip and the devil is not far behind. Sailors were a big part of early island life and they are in almost every band, if not the whole theme. The Fancy Sailor is almost unrecognizable as a historic or current figure. Only bits give you a clue, often the hat or the buttons, especially the women. Indians are a big component and of course lived on the islands before the Europeans came, but the ones in Carnival are American Indians from our own Wild West Shows - due I expect to the endless possibilities for costumes. The slave types themselves are also represented, usually in their Sunday best with turbans and parasols. And then there are conquistadors and african witchdoctors too.

Each of these types formed a sub section of the band and had between 25 and a 200 participants. So the whole band can have up to 3,000 members. Just one band out of hundreds.

The Parade starts early in the morning and didn't finish until late that night. Brian McFarland said he wasn't going to participate next year because he was fed up with the poor organizing.


His people were in costume by 7 AM, through the first judging stand by 10:30 AM and still didn't get through the third and final judging point until 8:30 that night. This means he lost a lot of his participants before the final and most important judging. And I suspect his was one of the most motivated groups.

One of the reasons for the drop outs is the other important trucks accompanying the Bands; the refreshment trucks. Bands such as McFarlands are all inclusive bands. That means all you can drink (and they also have Pee trucks with them - with port-a-potties lined up on the truck beds). A top Band like Brian's costs about $800 to join. For this you get a costume (it's not clear to me whether you can keep it or not) and all you can drink. Only those in top shape (of some sort) can manage to walk (and dance) for twelve hours or more. Or they leave for a rest and then try to return later. That isn't always easy as in between the judging spots the bands take different routes, trying to keep moving. So as the day wore on the bands intermingled.

It was frustrating watching all this from up in the stands so we took off to walk the streets. At times we would be next to a band and just outside the security ropes. Most of my better pictures happened then. Other times the band would be by and nothing would be following, so we'd walk around the back streets. There we would encounter many multi color costumed participants enjoying some food and drink, sitting on the sidewalks and in the parks.
The sun was hot so we purchased bottles of water and beer along the way. For lunch we had roast chicken with rice and some stir fried veggies from a stand outside a Chinese restaurant. Most vendors had made up lunches in styrofoam containers and anywhere you could possibly sit, someone was sitting.



And as the afternoon drew on the whining stepped up. Whining is a "dance" movement where the man (or sometimes woman) steps close up behind a woman and they begin a bump and grind to the music. Lamada but from the rear!


Two couples here demonstrate the process. It appeared that not all the participants knew the person approaching them - it's just a friendly gesture I guess. Sometimes this turns into a group manuver with three or four stacked up. The song "Palance" had a number of other dance moves called for in the lyrics. Hands went up, then the group moved to the left and to the right with the leading leg lifted. One of the photos near the top on the right shows one of the white sailor costumed ladies leading a group of devils in this step.

One of the sayings about Carnival is "Baccanal is Carnival and Carnival is Baccanal". We left at 4 PM so I'm afraid we saw the family rated version. As the night went on we suspect that everyone lossened up considerable. To be honest the real fun is being one of the participants not the audience!

Junior Carnival in Trinidad

First of all, let me say that this Carnival is so amazing that I'm posting many of photos here in their smallest size so I can include more. Please double click on them so you can see the details and enjoy the children's expressions. The creativity and variety of the costumes can only be suggested here.

Thousands of children participated and almost as many adults. The parade route was jammed with spectators. This is repeated the next day!!! I'm dividing this posting into two with mainly photos in the second posting. This of course when I can get an internet connection strong enough to upload pictures!

The Junior Parade of Bands in Trinidad is on both Saturday and Sunday. Junior means up to 15 years old. There is no beginning age limit. Toddlers of two and three marched in the parade and some babies, dressed in costume, were wheeled in prams.
The Junior King and Queen candidates compete in three earlier evening sessions along with the Senior Kings and Queens. They are usually among the older children and the sturdiest as the costumes are heavy and enormous. Some of the King costumes were more than 20 feet high and wide. The rest of the participants are everychild, with all the family members attached. Fathers,mothers, older siblings and grandparents are sometimes alongside.


They attache the elaborate costumes, paint the children's bodies, and support their progress through the parade. It's a long day starting at 9:00 AM and continuing into the late afternoon. The parade route is over 3 miles and the sun is hot.



There are food, drinks and cold treats available throughout, free. The kids appeared to be eating or munching every moment, except in front of the judges. Then they coalesced into somewhat organized dance groups. It was fascinating watching the "coaches" showing the kids the dance moves. The occasional child that got it had "rhythm - plus focus". Tough and rare combination.



The general divisions are among youth groups, both geographical and organizational. Each chooses a theme. These are mostly traditional, folkloric, historic or musical. A King and Queen lead the group, followed by sub groups within the general theme. Even within the subgroups costumes may vary some, depending on age and choice. All of these costumes are made by hand.


Artists specialize in this area and spend their lives designing Carnival costumes. Mothers and occasionally fathers do the actual sewing or I suppose have them sewn (see the photo with the father mending his daughter's costume above). There are a disproportionate amount of girls in the parade.



Probably only 25% are boys and most of them younger. The few that remain are promenent. The King candidates for example were pretty hardy. The top contenders were forced to carry some pretty big loads. I saw several on portable seats or just hunched over, trying to cope. It was a windy day, especially down by the waterfront.

Pan Orchestra and Single Pan Semi Finals - Trinidad

There are hundreds of events leading up to the actual Carnival here in Trinidad. Thousands of people play in the Pan Orchestras. Eight hundred came from the smaller island of Tobago (the other half of the two island nation) and were put up in hotels and private homes by the Pan Organization.
There are four designations of Pan Orchestras - large (between 90 and 120 players), medium (60 - 90), and small (to 60). One musician may play up to eight drums. The second type of pan group is single pan. These bands can be up to 30 players, each playing only one pan. Pans by the way have many musical designations according to the pitch and sound.

Some are basses and others are tenors. Some only have one octive, others many. They come in a variety of sizes and materials too.
Starting around the first of the year many go to the pan yards (practice areas for a particular band) to watch their favorites prepare for the competitions. Scott went to one before I arrived and these open practice sessions continue all the way to the carnival itself.

We got tickets for the semi finals for the Pan Orchestras last Sunday. The event started at 10 AM and finished at 2 AM. I'm not kidding. We arrived at 1 and left at seven. We would have stayed later but the noise really got to me. Not the bands;they were great and a reasonable decible level. It was the recorded music which filled in between each band. That was at a painful level at times.

The best bands show huge enthusiasm and dance moves of their own while playing the pans. They are the ones that know the music so well, they can clown around and have fun too. It's contagious - the audience responds quickly.

It took around 10-15 minutes to change bands up on the stage. Huge gradually sloped ramps led on and off the stage. The performers and a few helpers pushed the drums and scaffholding up to set up the arrangement. Drums, shirts, scarfs, flags and streamers & fringe were coordinated with the band's colors.

We had tickets for the stands, happily under a roof, and watched the actual perfomances. Many people just walk around outside and watch the bands practicing and moving towards the stage.
We arrived in time to see five small bands and stayed for all the medium bands. During the afternoon we went outside for a long walk and watched several of the big bands practicing.

The fellow above right is obviously practicing as that cigarette wouldn't be allowed Fifteen to twenty bands of each size performed for about 10 minutes. One song is chosen by the band and arranged especially for them. Two or three songs are really popular each year - "Surrender" and "Battle Zone" for example.

The latter was given a spectacular arrangement by our favorite band - snippits of Star Wars and other movie themes were interpursed and the flag wavers and banner carriers were given some fun choreography.
Hundreds of small stands line the streets and sell a huge variety of food. For lunch Scott and I had stewed chicken, rice & beans and salad. Cruiser friends sitting with us chose Corn Soup, made with corn cobs cut in disks and potatoes. Some of the signs advertising their menus were really fun.
One proclaimed "No Weed Sold Here" and another "Wild Meat". You can choose for example lappe, deer, gouti, or wild hog. The ingrediants for one vendor's Souse, normally a thick rice soup, included chicken foot, cow foot and cow skin - oh yummy! Or maybe these ingrediants are served seperately.
For dessert there are of course all the frozen treats we'd see at home and lots of homemade type candies, not usually chocolate here but caramel and fruit flavored. One stand resembled a penny candy shop. I loved the pair of plastic pigs all dressed up above the jar on the far above on the left. Enlarge the photo by clicking the mouse on it to see the details.

The following Saturday evening we went to the Single Pan Finals. These were held on a street blocked off from traffic. In the center some of the audience and the judges sat in stands erected in a park overlooking the street. Most of the thousands of fans gathered in the streets and listened to the bands

practice before giving their final performance. Vendors in small huts and on the street sold all kinds of food and drinks. One vendor, shown at the very top left, sold candy carried on his head and a frontal backpack. We tucked into a shark and bake, good but not fresh cooked unfortunately. Naturally a few cold beers accompanied that successfully.


Our next two events are this coming weekend. We're going downtown Port of Spain on Saturday during the day for the Junior Parade, presided over by the Junior King and Queen of the Carnival. This will feature the Junior Pan Bands, Dance Groups etc. Sunday night is the Final Senior King & Queen and the Calypso Competition. There have already been three evenings of competitions to winnow down the King and Queen entries!

Will we ever get out of here?

My flight to Trinidad was uneventful and it was lovely to be back with Scott, but our situation on the boat isn't as attractive. We are having the entire interior revarnished. It was supposed to be completed while we were gone but it is now four weeks since Scott returned, and it isn't done yet. An observant overseer is necessary to make pr
ogress. We've heard this a million times but didn't take it to heart. We know now.
For the first week after I arrived we stayed in a motel room in the Marina complex and spent our days on the boat. The kitchen was unusable, no doors, floorboards and tons of dust. We ate out more than usual but there was a small kitchenette in the motel room and I cooked some meals there. That's a picture from a Swordfist BBQ evening at the Wheelhouse Restaurant at the Tropical Marina above. The fish was definitely fresh! He's cutting the steaks right at the grill.

Our bedroom needed to be redone - drips in an early coat, so we pitched in as helpers to make some quicker progress. Nigel Barker (that's him above with our ship's wheel), our contractor, was apologetic and we set up a new schedule with intermediate deadlines. So our best guess is that they'll be done by this weekend.
We did get the exterior of our boat cleaned. Tony and his wife Stacy polished the hull when she was out of the water and then the decks and stainless after we were splashed. We're now in the water on the marina dock.

Our new anchor chain is supposed to arrive by Friday, so it's possible we could be out of here on Sunday. The weather reports have been poor for the last two weeks with wind from the NE and wave heights 7 - 9 feet from the same direction (where we're going) but they are moderating and turning more easterly by the end of the week. Yeh!
So the boat is a mess. No floor boards in places (translation - holes in the floors in almost every room), the smell of varnish ever present, our possessions scattered randomly (all cushions gone until the work is completed) etc. But the kitchen is no cleaned up and workable and our bedroom is completed! So we can cook and sleep.
We made good friends with a boat from Juno, Alaska "Quest". Louise and Chris and Louise's brother Ellis (from left to right Chris, Ellis, Louise and Scott) were great companions for several weeks.

They left on Sunday headed west, following our own route of three years ago. An Australian/New Zealand couple Ross and Fran on "Pacific Quest" have been great fun to hang around with too. We've been taking our dinner up to eat with them by the tiny pool at our marina (as we don't have even one of our three tables at present - see the salon as work room at left).
Carnival is approaching here in Trinidad and soon no work will be done at all. Officially Carnival is the 15th and 16th but the weeks before are filled with events. More on this in my next entry!