Masman Brian Mac Farlane says traditional mas is slowly dying and in order to keep the creativity and quality alive, there is a need to re-visit the incentives. The five-time winner of Band of the Year said while he understood the global financial challenges, Carnival was an important aspect to Trinidad and Tobago and "a little more thought and effort needs to be put into it."
Winner of Band of the Year receives $300,000. The designer was speaking at his mas camp on Rosalino Street, Woodbrook, yesterday. He said last year he had suggested to Tourism Minister Dr Rupert Griffith that prizes should be given to each of the main characters, such as Midnight Robber, Dame Lorraine or a Fancy Sailor. Mac Farlane said: "The whole fraternity, not only myself, has been speaking about the prize money for years now. "This is my eighth year and nothing has really changed. "The Kings and Queens still get the same prize money.
"Large bands still get the $300,000 which is a drop in the bucket considering the work that goes into it." He said if stakeholders were truly serious about rejuvenating the mas then incentives needed to be reviewed. Last year the bandleader copped 1,335 points, at the Queen's Park Savannah for his presentation, Humanity: Circle of Life, inspired by Khalil Gibran's, The Prophet.
It also won the Downtown Carnival large band category for the seventh consecutive time. Mac Farlane said: "Carnival brings such a huge revenue to the country and I think a little more thought and effort need to be put into it to rejuvenate it and keep it alive."
Mac Farlane said his focus was not on winning but on producing good, quality art and telling a story theatrically on the street. On Monday, he hosts Mac Mas Monday at the Jean Pierre Complex from 6.30 pm which is a theatrical presentation. He promised a wonderful show with powerful theatrics and pyrotechnics.
