I think the time has come to ban Car­ni­val. Car­ni­val has de­scend­ed in­to the gut­ter, and it is now so com­mer­cialised there is noth­ing recog­nis­able about Car­ni­val. The mas has gone the way of Brazil, ex­cept for Bri­an Mc­Far­lane and the Tri­ni Rev­ellers . Mas is re­al­ly one set of cow dung, as women pa­rade in their Mara­cas Bay out­fits year af­ter year. At times I used to be tempt­ed to say "don't stop the Car­ni­val," but now it's dif­fer­ent. I say "ban Car­ni­val, it's pure tata."

Every year head­pieces are shift­ed ten de­grees, feath­ers and plumes changed ... and the price goes up ... and up ... and up. The women ca­vort them­selves, play­ing any­thing but mas, win­ing on each oth­er in the most sug­ges­tive way, as the chil­dren look on in dis­be­lief. Car­ni­val as it is does noth­ing for T&T. It should be banned and re­placed with Mud Mas Day, when peo­ple can once more link with Moth­er Earth.

Kei­th An­der­son

Bel­mont, PoS