Evolving Tobago’s carnival

TOBAGO’S October carnival celebration got a resounding endorsement from the grand dame of calypso, the island’s very own Calypso Rose, who returned for this year’s celebrations.

“I am proud and happy to be here,” Linda McCartha Sandy-Lewis declared in an interview at the Hochoy Charles Administrative Complex. “It was fantastic.”

Rose, born in Bethel, was in Tobago for the renaming of Old Milford Road to Calypso Rose Boulevard.

Participants and observers declared the third edition of the carnival a success, attracting an estimated 30,000 visitors to the island.

This year’s carnival was staged with a reduced budget, dropping from $13 million in 2022 to $12.6 million in 2023 and settling at $9 million this year.

The THA’s reduced sponsorship is potentially positive for the event, which should be driven more by private-sector sponsorship and participation.

As the clock wound down for the event, small bandleaders complained that they were finding it difficult to get sponsorship. Many of them created costumes for Tobago’s participation in the national Carnival for many years before the introduction of the October festival.

In any after-action report on the event, it will be important to understand the actual arrival numbers and their origins. The occupancy level of the island’s accommodation stock should be confirmed, and the visitor spending should be calculated.

The THA cannot just “expect” international visitors to their carnival production. There must be a clear strategy for winning more global participation and not just depend on moving TT money around.

Tobago’s carnival will be strengthened by attracting foreign exchange, which requires more than replicating the successful models of modern Trinidadian carnival. Pretty but skimpy costumes and fashionable J’Ouvert bands may be an early income earner, as they are in Trinidad’s Carnival. However, they are an imposition on Tobago’s traditional culture, not an evolution of it.

Planning the October event as an opportunity to celebrate Trinidad-style carnival twice in the year has been the approach so far.

But for international visitors deciding which event to patronise, it’s a weak sales pitch that takes little advantage of Tobago’s rich history and cultural traditions.

This is an opportunity for Tobago carnival stakeholders to examine their unique cultural heritage and create an event that more visibly represents their shared history and outlook.

THA Secretary of Tourism and Culture Tashia Burris wants to see stakeholders take over the celebration, perhaps intuiting that Tobago can’t afford Trinidad’s largesse in underwriting a major carnival event.

For now, the THA is charting the future and must work with the island’s creative community to craft a Tobago carnival celebration that’s more a construct of considered cultural influence and not just a party in Tobago.

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