Pan Trin­ba­go will host Steel­band Month dur­ing the pe­ri­od Au­gust 1 to 31, with a num­ber of planned ac­tiv­i­ties in com­mem­o­ra­tion of the 19th an­niver­sary of the de­c­la­ra­tion of the steel­pan as the Na­tion­al Mu­si­cal In­stru­ment of Trinidad and To­ba­go.The cel­e­bra­tions start with an In­ter­faith Ser­vice on Ju­ly 31, at the Cathe­dral of the Im­mac­u­late Con­cep­tion, In­de­pen­dence Square, Port-of-Spain at 11 am. At the ser­vice, flags of the mem­ber steel­bands will be blessed.Oth­er events in­clude soloists per­for­mances at var­i­ous busi­ness places through­out the month of Au­gust and the Reded­i­ca­tion to the Foun­da­tion Stone lo­cat­ed at the back of the St Paul Street Mul­ti-Pur­pose Com­plex where the Steel­band As­so­ci­a­tion has its ori­gin in 1949. This is card­ed for Au­gust 4, at 4 pm.The Laven­tille Steel­band Fes­ti­val is an­oth­er of the sig­nal events on the cal­en­dar. This takes place on Au­gust 7 through the streets of Laven­tille.Bad John Day-The De­fend­ers of Pan, an in­ter­ac­tive talk show with the "he­roes and sur­vivors" of pan lore, is card­ed for Au­gust 11, at the Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars Or­ches­tra pan com­plex, Duke Street, Port-of-Spain. On this day, those who fought and risked life and limb to pro­tect steel­band turf and the in­stru­ment against hos­til­i­ty, share their mem­o­ries.

The high­light of the month's pro­ceed­ings, The Awards Cer­e­mo­ny, is sched­uled for Au­gust 13, at the Au­di­to­ri­um of the Na­tion­al Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts Cen­tre (NA­PA).This event, as the name im­plies, is held in ho­n­our of in­di­vid­u­als who have made ster­ling con­tri­bu­tion to the de­vel­op­ment of the Steel­band Move­ment. Pro­ceeds from the sale of tick­ets will go to­wards the Syd­ney Gol­lop Ben­e­fit Fund. Con­tri­bu­tion is $200 and dress is for­mal.Au­gust 14 is set aside for the Fun & Fam­i­ly Day at a venue to be an­nounced.Ju­nior steel­band mem­bers will have their own spe­cial day in the form of a Youth Ral­ly. The date is Au­gust 20. This event is open to all ju­nior mem­bers and their sup­port­ers.The pop­u­lar Pan in the De Coun­try­side con­tin­ues in To­co with Au­gust 21 as the des­ig­nat­ed day. Show­time is 2 pm to 8 pm.Fea­tured bands are CAL In­vaders, Trop­i­cal An­gel Harps, Pan Stere­onettes, Melo­di­ans, South­ern Marines Steel­band Foun­da­tion and Tokyo.The cur­tain comes down on Au­gust 31 with a Steel­band Jam­boree at Wood­ford Square, Port-of- Spain. This event is in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Dr Er­ic Williams TC Memo­r­i­al Com­mit­tee. Start­ing time is 1 pm and is free to the pub­lic.

NOTES

Apart from the above, ac­tiv­i­ties have been planned at Re­gion­al lev­el. Days tar­get­ed are:

• East­ern Re­gion - Au­gust 6.

• North­ern Re­gion - Au­gust 12.

• South/Cen­tral Re­gion - Au­gust 19.

• To­ba­go Re­gion - Au­gust 26.

• Ju­ly 31 (11 am): In­ter­faith Ser­vice, Cathe­dral of Im­mac­u­late Con­cep­tion, In­de­pen­dence Square and George Street, Port-of-Spain.

• To be an­nounced: Soloists Per­for­mances through­out Trinidad and To­ba­go - Cor­po­rate com­pa­nies, etc. Free.

• Au­gust 4 (4 pm): Re-ded­i­ca­tion to the Foun­da­tion Stone, St Paul Street Mul­ti-pur­pose Com­plex, St Paul Street, East Dry Riv­er, Port-of-Spain. Free.

• Au­gust 6: East­ern Re­gion Day, ac­tiv­i­ties in the East­ern Re­gion (To be an­nounced).

• Au­gust 7 (4 pm): Laven­tille Steel­band Fes­ti­val, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Pan Trin­ba­go, East­ern Main Road, Laven­tille (from Pash­ley Street to Leon Street). Free.

• Au­gust 11 (6 pm): Bad John Day - "De De­fend­ers of Pan," Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Or­ches­tra Pan The­atre, Duke Street, Port-of-Spain. Free.

• Au­gust 12: North­ern Re­gion Day, ac­tiv­i­ties in the North­ern Re­gion (To be an­nounced).

• Au­gust 13 (7 pm): Awards Cer­e­mo­ny (In aid of the Syd­ney Gol­lop Ben­e­fit Fund for steel­bands­men and women), Na­tion­al Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (NA­PA) Fred­er­ick Street, Port-of-Spain. Con­tri­bu­tion $200.

• Au­gust 14 (10 am): Fun and Fam­i­ly Day (All Re­gions) - The Pad­dock, Queen's Park Sa­van­nah, Port-of-Spain. Free.

• Au­gust 19: South/Cen­tral Re­gion Day, ac­tiv­i­ties in the South/cen­tral Re­gion (To be an­nounced).

• Au­gust 20 (10 am): Youth Ral­ly, Lar­ry Gomes Sta­di­um Car Park, Mal­abar, Ari­ma. Free.

• Au­gust 21 (2 pm): Pan In D Coun­try­side, To­co. Free;

• Au­gust 26: To­ba­go Re­gion Day , ac­tiv­i­ties in the To­ba­go Re­gion (To be an­nounced).

• Au­gust 31 (1 pm): Dr Er­ic Williams TC Memo­r­i­al, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Pan Trin­ba­go, presents Steel­band Jam­boree, Wood­ford Square, Port-of-Spain. Free.