Christmas Carolling Contest ends abruptly

Coordinator of the annual Christmas Caroling contest, Anthony Dennie, is dispelling claims that he had a hand in the show’s abrupt end last Tuesday, December 22, at the Victoria Park.{{more}}

At about 1:05 am, members of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police demanded that the show come to an end, much to the dismay of an already agitated crowd.

Dennie told SEARCHLIGHT that he was given permission for the show to run up until 1 am, but it ran over its scheduled time. He also said that 10 groups were to perform on the night, but only eight choirs turned up.

Dennie added that three of the groups which turned up at the park did not perform, leaving only five groups to entertain the crowd. “I am not saying that the police (are) wrong for doing what they did, but I think it is a national event that has been taking place for a number of years and another half hour would have been sufficient to complete the show,” he added.

Dennie said that he was powerless to do anything about the situation and the police did what they considered appropriate.

However, one reliable source told SEARCLIGHT there seems to have been confusion between the organizers and the choirs scheduled to perform. The source indicated that the choirs seemed not to be aware of the order in which they were supposed to sing.

The source also claims that two of the groups slated to perform were not informed that they were to make an appearance at the show. Another source told Searchlight that as a result of the missing acts, the MC’s had to entertain the crowd with jokes to fill in the gaps.

The night was not a total loss, however. The Port Police came in first, Fancy PTA took the second spot and Mad Symphony and friends had to settle for the third spot.

In the Parang competition, first place went to Azara, Skarypon came in second place and Alla-G took third place.