Tobago
Corey Connelly
PAN Trinbago president Beverly Ramsey-Moore believes the October carnival will revive the steel generations of the island community.
In an interview with Newsday on Sunday during the band parade in Scarborough, Ramsey-Moore said the organizing events were hugely successful.
She described Pan & Powder, held on Friday night in Scarborough, as a movie.
“The October carnival helps our groups prepare. It gives the Tobago steelbands an opportunity to prepare and get better prepared for the (Panorama) finals and for the carnival in Trinidad and Tobago,” Ramsey-Moore said.
“We have two carnivals. We have one in Tobago and then we have a carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. And I know that as a result of all this, there will be a revival in the steel bands of the community in Tobago. Groups will rise again.”
Ramsey-Moore, manager of Black Rock-based Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra, said the carnival provides a space for bands to grow and thrive.
“They wouldn’t have to fight the big guns in Trinidad. They will become big guns in their space.”
She described the carnival as “pure excitement.
“I am lost for words. I looked forward to the day when Tobagonians and Tobago could host a grand festival like Carnival.
Ramsey-Moore said the event has the potential to positively impact the island’s economy, which has been virtually destroyed by the Covid19 pandemic since March 2020.
“It trickles down to the smallest man. The roasted and boiled corn man, the souse man. Even the man who takes the bottle on the street. That’s what carnival does and it gives an opportunity for our artists, the creative sector to thrive and flourish.”
She thanked THA or hosting the carnival.
“Talk has been in the air for a very long time about the Tobago Carnival. But this House of Assembly of Tobago, I don’t know if it is because of the youthful thinking, they have seized the opportunity and I want to congratulate them. Things won’t be perfect the first time, but when they fall they’ll get up – and that’s all.”
Ramsey-Moore particularly commended Culture, Tourism, Antiquities and Transport Secretary Tashia Burris and the Tobago Festivals Commission.
She said the carnival should be an annual event.
“The social and financial impact is too great to throw away in just one day.” Long live the Tobago Carnival.”
Despite the large number of international travelers visiting Tobago, Ramsey-Moore said, Trinidad remains the island’s largest tourist market.
“It is the closest island to us. This is the reality. Some people may not like what I am saying, but we cannot do anything in Tobago without our nearest neighbors coming here. So we need such support.
“But we don’t need the whole of Trinidad to come and tell us, do this or do that. Through a collaborative effort sitting together, that’s what’s important at this time.”
