Carnival bands stay away from judging point

LARGE crowds of spectators prevented the free flow of bands along Cipero and Coffee Streets to the main judging venue of Skinner Park, San Fernando yesterday. However, the story was not the same at Skinner Park, where a handful of spectators and judges waited for the arrival of the bands. It was announced via a loudspeaker that the crowd at Skinner Park was “too small” for the bands to perform before.

Under glorious sunshine, scores of spectators gathered from as early 10 am to witness the return of “pretty mas” to the hallowed sanctuary of the park, but were instead greeted by pulsating DJ music and an empty main stage. To add insult to injury, at approximately 4.10 pm a solitary sailor mas band entered the park via the Cipero Street entrance. The masqueraders seemed to have glanced at the small crowd then exited the way they had come — back up Cipero Street.

Both the small group of spectators and the judges were later informed, by way of an announcement on a loudspeaker, that the crowd was “too small” for the masqueraders’ performance. However, it  was a different picture at the two other judging venues — Skiffle Bunch pan theatre and at Royal Road. Throngs of spectators were treated to spectacular performances by a number of San Fernando’s prominent bands including Ivan Kalicharan’s “Flashback” and Lionel Jagessar’s “Los Indios.” Some 16 bands were expected to cross the Skinner Park venue last night for the judging of “Band of the Year” and “Masqueraders of the Year — Male and Female.” Results are expected to be announced on Friday.