Vincy Mas 2017 – 40 years of fun under the July sun

Editor: The dust has barely settled from Vincy Mas 2016 and plans and suggestions are already flowing to ensure that the 40th anniversary of Vincy Mas in July 2017 will be a memorable and historic event.

On Monday, July 4, just after revellers were winding down from the street jump, calypso finalist Primadonna ‘Prim’ Bascombe held informal discussions with Culture Minister Ces Mc Kie,{{more}} looking at some of the shortcomings of this year’s festival and looking forward to next year’s 40th anniversary of Vincy Mas in July. Prior to this change of date, Carnival was held the same time as Trinidad and Tobago.

One of Prim’s observations was that the calypso finals was poorly advertised, hence the poor attendance on the night of the finals. Just 10 years ago, the Dimanche Gras show was one of the better attended shows at Victoria Park, but this show has now been overshadowed by the more popular shows, including the Soca Monarch show, which has now become the ‘cash cow’ for the CDC and which was held the night before the calypso finals.

Prim identified the lack of adequate promotion of the show by the CDC as one of the reasons why the Dimanche Gras was poorly attended. There were no TV interviews for all finalists organized by the CDC, nor Mas tent visits to give the public an idea of what to expect and to give competitors an opportunity to invite their fans through a public medium.

It was also suggested that in order to guarantee participation by the public, each major sponsor should give away at least 50 tickets for each show, to persons calling in to their favourite radio station and answering a Carnival related question in order to win a ticket. Another suggestion was that a music CD or thumb drive with all calypso finalists be made available for sale and that the CDC should make arrangements to have all finalists have a studio recording done which the CDC, Tourism Dept and other private agencies can market as a memoir of Vincy Mas. This can also be done in the video format for the Soca Monarch and Mardi Gras shows.

Culture Minister Ces Mc Kie noted all the suggestions and said that plans for the 40th anniversary of Vincy Mas in July would reflect these ideas, as he looked for a ‘win win’ scenario for all stakeholders. The more patrons attending shows at Victoria Park, would also mean better gate receipts and sales for drink and food vendors within the park.

Donald De Riggs