As Trinidad and To­ba­go steps ful­ly in­to the colour, rhythm and rev­el­ry of Car­ni­val 2026, the na­tion­al mood is one of an­tic­i­pa­tion and pride. The en­er­gy is un­mis­tak­able. Car­ni­val re­mains our great­est cul­tur­al ex­pres­sion—a fes­ti­val born of his­to­ry, cre­ativ­i­ty and re­silience.

But as the mu­sic swells and the mas­quer­aders take to the streets, so too must our col­lec­tive com­mit­ment to safe­ty rise in equal mea­sure.

This week, Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar con­firmed that na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty agen­cies have ac­ti­vat­ed ex­pand­ed mea­sures for the sea­son’s ma­jor events. The Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice has launched Op­er­a­tion Se­cure De VIBES, an ini­tia­tive aimed at en­sur­ing pub­lic or­der while pre­serv­ing the spir­it of re­spon­si­ble en­joy­ment that de­fines our fes­ti­val.

High-vis­i­bil­i­ty polic­ing, manda­to­ry reg­is­tra­tion of large bands and or­ches­tras, and strict pro­hi­bi­tions on weapons, fire­works and glass bot­tles are among the key com­po­nents of the op­er­a­tion. Au­thor­i­ties have al­so sig­nalled firm en­force­ment of noise reg­u­la­tions and de­ci­sive ac­tion against lewd be­hav­iour and the im­per­son­ation of po­lice of­fi­cers—a re­minder that while Car­ni­val in­vites free­dom of ex­pres­sion, it does not ex­cuse law­less­ness.

These mea­sures are not in­tend­ed to damp­en cel­e­bra­tion. Rather, they are safe­guards—prac­ti­cal steps de­signed to pro­tect mas­quer­aders, ven­dors, spec­ta­tors and vis­i­tors alike. In re­cent years, iso­lat­ed but trou­bling in­ci­dents have un­der­scored the need for vig­i­lance. We need on­ly re­call last Car­ni­val Tues­day’s breach at the Grand Stand main stage, where a masked in­trud­er re­port­ed­ly made in­ap­pro­pri­ate phys­i­cal con­tact with fe­male mas­quer­aders be­fore se­cu­ri­ty in­ter­vened. That episode served as a stark re­minder that se­cu­ri­ty plan­ning must evolve in tan­dem with the scale and com­plex­i­ty of mod­ern Car­ni­val.

The Na­tion­al Car­ni­val Com­mis­sion (NCC), un­der its ROPE pro­to­col—Re­flect, Or­gan­is­ing, Prepa­ra­tion and Ex­e­cu­tion—has strength­ened its ap­proach for 2026. Se­cu­ri­ty at the Grand Stand will be tight­ened to pre­vent ac­cess by non-mas­quer­aders, and SWAT of­fi­cers will be sta­tioned with­in des­ig­nat­ed se­cu­ri­ty zones in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the TTPS. The Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah has been di­vid­ed in­to four zones—A, B, C and D—to en­hance crowd man­age­ment and re­sponse ca­pa­bil­i­ty, while an air sup­port unit will pro­vide re­al-time co­or­di­na­tion be­tween po­lice and fire ser­vices.

The ex­pand­ed se­cu­ri­ty foot­print ex­tends na­tion­wide. Of­fi­cers will be de­ployed at beach­es, rivers, res­i­den­tial com­mu­ni­ties and oth­er recre­ation­al spaces through­out the long week­end. State agen­cies have been di­rect­ed to in­crease life­guard and safe­ty per­son­nel in an­tic­i­pa­tion of large gath­er­ings. There will al­so be a fo­cused em­pha­sis on child safe­ty, li­censed trans­port for mas­quer­aders, re­spon­si­ble al­co­hol con­sump­tion and sober dri­ving, in­clud­ing safe breath checks.

These ini­tia­tives re­flect a clear mes­sage: pub­lic safe­ty is a shared re­spon­si­bil­i­ty.

Car­ni­val is ours, but it thrives on­ly when we re­spect one an­oth­er. Com­ply­ing with po­lice di­rec­tions, avoid­ing reck­less be­hav­iour, safe­guard­ing our chil­dren and look­ing out for friends and strangers alike are not bur­dens; they are acts of civic care.

As we step in­to Car­ni­val Mon­day and Tues­day, let us cel­e­brate with joy—but al­so with aware­ness. Let us prove that we can wine, jump and sing with aban­don while still ho­n­our­ing the law and pro­tect­ing the vul­ner­a­ble. Let us en­sure that vis­i­tors leave with sto­ries of bril­liance and warmth, not of dis­or­der or harm.

Here’s to a safe, peace­ful and ex­hil­a­rat­ing Car­ni­val 2026. May the vibes be high, the mu­sic sweet, and every mas­quer­ad­er re­turn home safe­ly at the end of each glo­ri­ous day.