‘Riot’ in Port-of-Spain

The crowd was entertained by the sounds of drums, steelpan music, and a production show about the origins of the festival.

Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, said the crowd was much bigger than last year and she felt proud of the production.

“I enjoyed the production very much,” Gadsby-Dolly said.

“I felt proud of the reaction of the large crowd. It was a little bit bigger than last year. I think the seating was a little bit organised so I am really glad to see how much people came out today.” Before the scheduled 4am start of the re-enactment, people packed the bleachers to get a closer view while some cluttered the streets at the sides of the stage area to view the performance.

Gadsby-Dolly said Canboulay is an important part of TT’s cultural tourism product and is something which can be marketed for export as part of this country’s Carnival product.

“I think we do a lot for culture and there is always room for improvement.” Tourism Minister Shamfa Cudjoe said it was her first Canboulay celebration and she was very excited about what she had seen.

“It reminds me very much of the Heritage Festival in Tobago,” Cudjoe said.

“I am very pleased to see so many young people involved in the celebration. As you know, Carnival is the major tourist product for Trinidad and Tobago.

I think this is something every tourist should have the opportunity to see and I actually feel this is something I should pay to see. We have come a long way in developing the culture and we have a long way to go as to how to monetise it and to make it trickle down to the communities.” Port-of-Spain Mayor Joel Martinez was accompanied by soca artist Machel Machel.

Martinez said the production was exciting and was a very nice production, “I just realise that it was 1881 that this thing started and that means 135 years of Carnival and I think we have come a long way and this was a fantastic production this morning. I never expected to see so many people.”