#COVIDCarnival
Trinidad and Tobago is synonymous with the greatest show on earth, that is our Carnival. This view, has allowed our culture to grow from its humble beginnings during slavery time to what it is now. Which also means that this industry is not only profitable in the patriotic sense it is also in the monetary stance. Spanning from the entertainers, to the promoters, make up artists, food vendors, tailors, graphic artists and the list goes on. Now with COVID19 our 2021 Carnival season is cancelled, for obvious reasons. This isn't the fist time this has happen here, in 1972 Carnival was postponed from February to May because of the threat of the polio virus. So it brings the old adage "history repeats itself" to my mind. This cancellation also came with the implementation of necessary protocols of what is allowed and what isn't, such as wearing face masks in public, no in house dining, the closure of the beaches and so on. Over the period of the Public Health Regulations would have been relaxed such as the opening of beaches (with masks on the sand),no gathering of more than 10 in public places and 50% capacity to cinemas, in house dining and in buildings licensed under the theaters and dancehall act, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Now in Trinidad carnival season starts in December with various fetes (festivals) taking place. This has been reduced to no events happening or live streams of entertainers singing to a camera, without the energy and atmosphere of the audience and the fete itself, that is very demotivating if you love your craft. And as a viewer of these virtual performances, let's be honest, that can be on the same excitement level of the infamous ending of Game of Thrones or How I Met Your Mother. As a viewer and a carnival season lover, I am not interested, nor would I pay to watch something virtually that I can hear on YouTube for free. Am I being reimbursed if power goes? Doubt. this is were we must innovate for the sake of the economy, culture and patriotic pride.
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley who was one of the featured speakers during the official launch of The Pivot Event, a five day virtual gathering of pioneering thinkers in the Caribbean region, organized by the Inter-American Development Bank, and she stated “We must have the cultural confidence to develop technologies of our own kind on a timeline that that plays to our strengths and which captures the imagination of our own people. We must become a developer of ideas and technologies that allow us to overcome the everyday disadvantages of being a small island developing state". She also quoted Trinidadian luminary CLR James – Nobody knows what the Caribbean population is capable of. Nobody has ever attempted to find out.” “I say the duty is ours together to pivot right now, to find out what that Caribbean person is about and what capacity our region is capable of.”
With regards to carnival and fetes, EEEmpire, an event hosting company, pivoted and created an innovative way that provided a new template that allowed people to enjoy a blend of live performance and virtual, which adheres to all the government's and WHO's protocols to prevent the spread of this virus.
Sekon Sunday ( the entertainer's stage name is Skeon Sta and this event is held on the second Sunday of every year) is organized and promoted by EEEmpire and they implemented the following protocols for specially invited guests at the free event.
Health protocols involved:
1. Patrons staying seated in their cars and invited in small groups to enter the hall.
2. Sanitizing and doing a temperature check.
3. Recording their names and temperatures on a contact list.
4. Spaced out seating.
5. Less than 30% of the venue space was filled. Less than 270 persons were present in a Hall that can seat 754.
6. Masks on at all times. Ushers present to enforce this.
7. Hall emptied in rows after departure. No refreshment served during show. Patrons were given prepackaged refreshment to go at the end of the event.
Even though after the heavily publicized event was held, it faced backlash from citizens, government and police officials, it was proven that it adhered and observed all the COVID protocols. It is my view that this hybrid form of fete was rather impressive, innovative and pivoting. I believe that individuals should follow the template created by EEEmpire instead of regretting that they did not think it was possible to have some form of Carnival that did not include the usual environment that we know. It even shows that Soca as its own genre doesn't need that type of rowdiness to be appreciated and celebrated as an art form.
“Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” –Dr. Albert, Szent- Gy?rgyi