De­spite its fund­ing chal­lenges, the We Beat Fes­ti­val, put on by the St James Com­mu­ni­ty Im­prove­ment Com­mit­tee, al­so called the We Beat Com­mit­tee, is off to a fly­ing start. Pres­i­dent Earl Cros­by is hop­ing for a bumper fes­ti­val that would see the com­mit­tee crawl­ing out of the red. Last Fri­day at the Li­ons Cul­tur­al Cen­tre, Wright­son Road Ex­ten­sion, Port-of-Spain, ca­lyp­so­ni­ans Denyse Plum­mer and Trinidad Rio, and pan re­searcher /ad­min­is­tra­tor Kei­th Simp­son of the St James Tripo­lians, were ho­n­oured at a din­ner and dance for their con­tri­bu­tions in their re­spec­tive fields.

The nine-day fes­ti­val, with its theme Cel­e­brat­ing The Red, White and Black, switch­es in­to high gear to­day with pan, tas­sa and African drum­ming, plus the in­duc­tion of the ho­n­ourees. Keep-fit buffs can at­tend the Shoto­boe warm up ses­sions at the St James Am­phithe­atre, West­ern Main Road, St James, at 4 pm. A packed pro­gramme is planned for the week, with jazz, vin­tage ca­lyp­so and a pan ex­plo­sion hold­ing the spot­light. We Beat cul­mi­nat­ed yes­ter­day with a jump-up on the West­ern Main Road, St James, with steel­bands and cos­tumed mas­quer­aders.

Pro­gramme High­lights

All events at the St James Am­phithe­atre, ex­cept foot­ball at the St James Bar­racks.

TO­DAY

Shotobe fit­ness warm-up at 4 pm. Pan, tas­sa and African drum­ming, plus in­duc­tion of ho­n­ourees at 5 pm. Ad­mis­sion free.

TO­MOR­ROW

Health day at 10 am. Shotobe fit­ness fi­nals and dis­tri­b­u­tion of cash prizes and tro­phies at 4 pm. We Talk at 7 pm.

TUES­DAY JUNE 5

Nik­ki Cros­by as Hot Mouth Granny.

WEDNES­DAY JUNE 6

We Beat foot­ball, St James Bar­racks, 4.30 pm. Jazz Beat at 8 pm, fea­tur­ing &Ea­cute;lan Parl&ea­cute;, Vaugh­nette Big­ford, Mun­gal Patasar and Pan­tar, plus the Po­lice Band.

THURS­DAY JUNE 7

Pan Ex­plo­sion fea­tur­ing Wit­co Des­per­a­does, St James Tripo­lians, PCS Ni­tro­gen Sil­ver Stars and Chi­nese Steel En­sem­ble. Show­time 8 pm.

FRI­DAY JUNE 8

Vin­tage ca­lyp­so fea­tur­ing 2012 Ca­lyp­so Monarch Du­ane O'Con­nor, Roots­man, Stal­in, Denyse Plum­mer, Trinidad Rio, Fun­ny, Francine, Scrunter, Mighty Tri­ni and Con­tender. Mu­sic by Pel­ham God­dard and Roots. MCs: Nik­ki Cros­by, Pene­lope Spencer and CG. Show­time 8 pm.

SAT­UR­DAY JUNE 9

Steel­band pa­rade on West­ern Main Road from 7 pm to 2 pm.