New mas band Passion Carnival has signed on to participate in the Socadrome initiative at the Jean Pierre Complex on Carnival Tuesday.The band joins four other megabands – Bliss, Harts, Tribe and Yuma – in the initiative which is also being used by the National Carnival Commission to test whether an extended parade route will alleviate some of the congestion heading to the Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, on Carnival Tuesday.
Passion Carnival's decision to join the initiative was revealed by Tribe bandleader Dean Akin yesterday during an interview at the Jean Pierre Complex, where the Socadrome stage was still being built.Akin, describing it as a pilot project, said the organisers would not allow any other bands to join the initiative in an effort to maintain control over the event."We will see how it goes this year and if all goes well, we may have the Socadrome again next year," he said.
Spokesperson for the Socadrome initiative, Danielle Hunte, yesterday said she could not indicate when construction of the stage at the venue would be completed.A visit to the venue showed the structure of the stage had been built and about a quarter of its surface had been covered.In response to questions about parking for patrons, Hunte said the organisers were encouraging patrons to use the parking facilities at MovieTowne, which would cost $40 for Carnival Tuesday.
She said, however, that masqueraders usually parked closer to the bands meeting points."None of the bands involved are starting or ending their route at the Socadrome, so parking for masqueraders is not an issue," Hunte said.Mas band Fantasy, which in previous years had rented part of the car park at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for use by its masqueraders, said yesterday that it had found an alternative location.Hunte told the T&T Guardian on Tuesday the cost of the initiative had already crossed $1 million.