Why we cannot stop the Carnival

Lewd, vulgar and generally licentious behaviour is laid at the feet of mas players.

True up to a point, but not totally true.

Licentiousness is a learned behaviour, elements of which must be tackled from kindergarten straight into tertiary education.

Some say Carnival should be once every two years, some religions say preferably not at all. Carnival 2017 has proven that if you take away (gradually we hope) all government funding, the entrepreneurs will work on keeping the money flowing.

Every year from now on less taxpayers’ money should be given where the profits, including prize money, should come from gate receipts. This would enable the Government to supply every seat in the Grand Stand and the North Stand on a first come, first served basis for a blanket $50 for those who want to or need to sit.

I have no expertise in economics but it would be foolhardy to write off Carnival as non-profitable. We cannot stop the Carnival for important reasons. Too many of the fiscally challenged depend on the yearly Carnival season to keep them in bread and butter. In a Third World setting, vending is the poor man’s avenue/vehicle out of poverty and dependency on government hand-outs.

Importantly, the musical expression by use of the steel drums is part and parcel of our identity. It soothes the psyche. The celebration of Carnival can diffuse that ticking “dissatisfaction time bomb” that resides within each living person.

It is time to advertise TT as a tourist destination that deals specifically with musical expression.

The sand and the sea remain merely the icing on the cake of a tropical holiday.

Perhaps we need to invite the players of the orchestras of the world to see how our steelband music is unique to the world and can be part and parcel of their own musical fulfilment.

In the tropical moonlight, the steel drums of all the bands seemed to be reflections of the National Academy for the Performing Arts, silver and round and enduring.

Lynette Joseph Diego Martin