Carnival 2013, as we move into the last lap

The 2013 Carnival celebrations were supposed to have gotten into full stride last Friday with the Miss Carival show having been used to kick it off. My understanding is that the attendance was extremely disappointing for a show that had originally been pushed as the premier show, particularly because it was expected to draw a regional audience. I wondered and am still wondering about the reasons behind the change of date and its position on the Carnival calendar. The last week of Carnival is the time when most of our visitors come to SVG for Carnival and many of them look forward to attending this show.{{more}}

Additionally, because Carnival Monday is CARICOM day in the region, we could expect regional people coming in for the weekend. It might be that the thinking behind this was to give a boost to the Panorama show, which is scheduled for this evening, as we kick off the final weekend of Carnival. This is fine and we must hope that many of those coming in for the final weekend will take the opportunity to listen to pan. The attendance at Junior Panorama gives some hope. Really, the junior shows are usually well supported and this augurs well for the future of Carnival and the different art forms. Panorama has not been well patronised over the years. Let us hope tonight we can take away something very positive by attracting a large audience and bringing our people back to an appreciation of pan music.

Having said all of that, what is the future of the Miss Carival show, given what seemingly are the heavy costs involved in staging that show? There has been a lot of discussion about this over the years. There was even the suggestion that it be taken out of Carnival and held at a different time and that we repackage it and utilise the Grenadines, for instance, by having the swimwear section there, with the enormous possibilities of high promotion for the show and country that this offers. We seem not to be sure what we want from this show. It is really it would appear, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but not a lot of anything.

One of the areas that has turned out to be very disappointing is that involving the talent. Let us, in looking at the area of talent, focus on our SVG Queen show. It would appear that many of the contestants in this show are attracted by the possibility of winning a University scholarship. This is good, but when a selection is made of the contestants, what do we look for? Is talent considered? The issue of talent reveals some shortcomings in our education system. To what extent do students participate in extraâcurricular activities, in art, drama, dance, music, the playing of the steel pan, for instance? Is there much scope for the development of talent?

One might argue that this is beyond the scope of the work of the CDC and this is true. So, a young lady is selected, perhaps because of her looks, her manner of speaking, whatever. But she might have no real talent that she is aware of and has developed. She is selected and then has to run around “looking for a talentâ. Obviously there are many young ladies involved in those areas that I have identified, but they seem not to be the ones who get selected for these shows. How we get around all of this is the question.

Saturday nightâs Soca Monarch show (Ragga and Power) is taken care of. We know that come high or low, rain or not, the Park will be full. Last yearâs Dimanche Gras showed some encouraging signs. The calypso competition then was among the most competitive we have had for a long time. Calypso is not only attractive by itself, but will always bring something to Carnival, as it has been doing over the years. The Calypso Association still has a lot of work to do, with the calypsos facing up to some critical reviews.

Maybe something of what Bump-I attempted to do is needed, not necessarily in the form of a calypso, but in a forum with persons with skills, information and expertise in the different areas having a conversation with the calypsonians, not to pull anyone down, but to assist in pushing things forward. I was looking at a speech I had given at a symposium held in September 1988, in an effort to reorganise the Association. I think many of my observations then still stand. I will reprint it for whatever it is worth, even if to start a conversation. On another note, some criticisms have been levelled at Joy-C, but we need to treat this matter more seriously and get to understand the circumstances that forced her to leave her hospital bed, after suffering, of all things, a stroke, earlier in the week to participate in the semi-finals. I have my suspicions about this.

This brings me to the main point that I want to make and this has to do with the redesigning of Carnival. Let us look again at our overall package and see how we can make it more relevant and more attractive and carry it forward. I donât claim to have answers to this, but as a society we can work on it. We must not see ourselves as tied in with what happens in Trinidad; let us do our own thing and involve in particular our young people, many of whom are thinking and operating at a different level. They might bring ideas that are desperately needed at this time.

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian.