Excitement over Tobago CarnivalTobago’s first October Carnival...

Written By Leah Sorias

Carnival stakeholders in Trinidad are eager to jump on board to help plan and ­execute Tobago’s first Carnival in October. Also standing by ready to assist is the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, said Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell yesterday. Carnival in Tobago is scheduled to take place from Friday, October 28, to Sunday, October 30, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) announced on Monday.

“The idea of a separate festival for Tobago is not a new one, and has been discussed for years. From my recall, the ministry and the National Carnival Commission have been in discussions about its creation previously,” Mitchell told the Express via WhatsApp.

“With respect to this announcement... no, this THA has not approached us for assistance, but we stand ready to assist as required since we both share the desire and goal to improve our festival offerings and create new ones, with the aim of attracting visitors and creating economic value,” he added.

Trinidad stakeholders want in. In a telephone interview yesterday, Johnny Q Sound Company owner John Quan said he was impressed by Tobago’s stance in hosting its own Carnival.

He felt, however, that consultations should have been held with stakeholders from Trinidad, who he felt were a “little more experienced in the business on a larger scale”, and not just Tobago stakeholders.

“I am not saying to throw out the Tobago people. All I am saying is to include some of the Trinidad people,” he stated. “Like anything else, people talk about events, but they don’t consult the right people and sometimes they don’t make the right decisions based on the industry.”

Quan highlighted that his business is the largest supplier of goods and services for Carnival—providing sound, lights, stage, generators, screens and toilets for major events like Machel Monday, Army Fete and Tribe.

“Plus I do my own events like Moka and Punchy Wednesday, so you could say I am more or less like the biggest stakeholder in Carnival on the whole. And I have been trying to find out what day the actual Carnival is, what day Jouvert is. They’re only saying October 28 to October 30, they are not consulting and giving information,” he said.

Quan added: “At the end of the day, I think it is a good idea but a bad start. I want to do some stuff for the Carnival—for example, to bring out a Jouvert band or a Monday and Tuesday band, but I don’t even know where to start, how it works, nothing.”

Tribe Carnival chief execu­tive officer Dean Ackin said the Tribe team was also ready and willing to offer its expertise and advice to develop Tobago’s October Carnival.

“We think it’s a good idea to host a Carnival in our sister isle. Tobago is a beautiful destination, and this event would bring in visitors from Trinidad and abroad which will augur well for the Tobago economy,” he said in a WhatsApp exchange.

“Tobago has so much to offer and, if planned and executed well, the Carnival can become a staple on the events calendar,” Ackin added.

Events promoter Randy Glasgow said months ago when THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine announced plans for a Tobago Carnival in October, his company, Randy Glasgow Productions, started having discussions with one of the major hotels in Tobago about getting involved in “some major activities” on the island in October.

He said those discussions continued yesterday following the announcement of the Carnival dates.

Glasgow said he could not go into further details.

Asked what he thought would make Tobago’s Carnival a success, Glasgow said stakeholders from Trinidad who want to participate in the event must be mindful of their approach to Tobago Carnival.

“Those of us in Trinidad who want to partake have to understand why the Carnival is taking place and the priori­ties and so on. We all have to know that it is being done for Tobago and for Tobago’s economy and for Tobago citi­zens, and we have to work with the Tobago stakeholders. And once that is done, we know things will go very well and at the highest level,” he said.

“The month of October is fantastic timing for a Carnival that’s so close to Trinidad. It could also be a lead into Trini­dad Carnival. It also opens the door for our creative sector like our soca artistes and writers to make the music earlier and launch it for Tobago... so a lot of them could get a lot of success from that. So it will work well for both islands,” Glasgow pointed out.

Vinod Bajaj, general manager at Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort in Tobago, said the hotel was excited about the upcoming festivities.

“Anything that will create more traffic intensity in Tobago, we certainly welcome. The Carnival event will be the last Carnival event in the region, so definitely it is a step in the right direction, so we are excited. This is great news for Tobago,” he said.

Bajaj said while it was still early days for bookings for that weekend, he expected bookings to pick up in the weeks and months to come.

Winston Pereira, general manager and owner of Miller’s Guest House in Buccoo, Tobago, said he, too, was hopeful for an uptick in ­bookings.

“As with any other event that occurs in Tobago, the appeal is really for or focused on our twin isle, which is Trinidad. Hopefully, it might be able to draw some international appeal, but being that it is the first time this is actually happening, we are more prepared for a domestic market than a foreign market. It’s not that we don’t encourage the foreign market,” he said.

Pereira said the guest house planned to boost its marketing strategy to attract bookings for the Carnival ­season.