Carnival Talk

Tonight, 30 June, the Calypso Semi-Finals kicks off the official period of Carnival 2023, which we have dubbed the ‘hottest carnival in the Caribbean’. Twenty-two calypsonians will grace the stage vying to be part of finalists selected to compete with last year’s winner ‘Tajoe’.

CDC’s Chairman confirmed what was stated last year, that only one calypso will be sung at the semis and the finals on the night of Dimanche Gras. His argument is that patrons largely accepted that, as did the calypsonians who preferred to sing one ‘powerful’ song that was well known, as opposed to a second that was going to be heard for the first time on the night. There is to me no logical reason why the second song would only be heard for the first time on that night, not with a multiplicity of radio stations and social media channels, including YouTube. As one with an interest in the art form, I think it demeans the art form and doesn’t see a future for calypsos beyond carnival. At a time when we are thinking of entertainment packages to meet the demands of an expected increase in stay-over visitors, why not encourage the calypsonians to continue composing their songs.

I refer here to a piece by Camille Saunders- Musser that appeared in Searchlight, calling for us to be champions of the Arts and integrating it into everyday life. She was speaking about Art in its broadest sense, which applies to the calypso art form which is part of our cultural heritage. In that same issue of Searchlight Anthony Stewart wrote about “Fostering a different carnival culture in SVG”. He suggests having different aspects of carnival into our school system, highlighting steel pan tuning, art and craft focusing on designing and production of costumes and lyrics for calypsos forming part of the English syllabus. He argues that “If we consider our culture to be important, formalizing our Carnival will ensure its survival and transmission to the next generation.”

Of the 22 semi-finalists for tonight, nine of them are females and those picked are almost equally divided among the tents – ON TOUR 7, UPSTAGE 6, GRADUATES 5 and the New York based DYNAMITES 4. The calypsos this year appear to be quite strong on social commentary, reflecting the essence of calypsos as they have traditionally been, providing a statement about the state of our society as seen through their eyes and the sounds they are getting on the ground. Carnival, our biggest national festival, instead of providing us with a united front, has its share of divisions. This is seen with the withdrawal of some Soca artistes, including former monarchs from this year’s competition. Issues between the CDC and private promoters which seem to lurk in the background, expose a question that we have never really answered – What is Carnival? Is it primarily about organised shows by the CDC involving pan, mas, and calypso/soca, or is it more than that?

In the past there was an unwritten agreement between the CDC and private promoters who tried not to compete with the CDC shows, as was the case with the Queen shows where they had their dances after the CDC shows ended. But private promoters were then few. Today’s reality is different. Visitors to carnival come to have a good time and would patronise what appealed to them. Having said that, without pan, mas and calypso/soca Carnival will not be carnival. What the CDC, with its components must do is to make its shows as attractive and appealing as possible, so that crowds will attend. Hearing, relatively speaking at the last moment of the withdrawal of some Soca artistes, takes away from the atmosphere one expects on the eve of the festival.

One of the issues central to carnival and our efforts to attract visitors to the festival has to do with the financial impact of having visitors. Has there ever been any meaningful study on this matter? We know that many Vincentians in the Diaspora return annually for the occasion. Most of them stay with relatives or at homes they might have built since they had moved abroad. How many non-Vincentians have we been able to attract to the ‘hottest carnival’ in the region? This, of course would impact on hotel occupancy.

There are a lot of issues related to Carnival that need to be addressed. These should not be left unaddressed until we get into the Carnival season. In the past we had symposiums or what some referred to as ‘post-mortems’ (not the best term to use for these occasions!). These were not professionally organised and did not produce the results expected. There is need for one with professional facilitators. It should be preceded by individual sessions held by the components of carnival and private promoters.

They would select representatives to attend the CDC sponsored symposium and report on their findings (really on issues that concern them and recommendations about addressing them). At the final session, others not necessarily a part of the components should be invited to make their contributions. This obviously would be costly but if we are interested in the art form and in making this the ‘hottest carnival’ in the region, we must be prepared to spend some money on it. Quite often the issue is not money but our screwed-up priorities because we find money to do things that serve our interests. This session must be held early, and the findings distributed to participants and finalised eventually by the facilitator after feedback from participants. This final product could then form the basis for a new approach to Carnival. All however depends on how professionally this is handled. But it must be done if we have any interest in developing our carnival culture.

• Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian