San Fernando Carnival bandleaders are seeking the assurance from the Carnival Committee that Monday night mas will not be stopped prematurely, as happened last year. During a meeting with Alderman Kenny Phillips, convenor of the San Fernando Carnival Committee, on Wednesday evening at City Hall, the bandleaders said it was not worth investing in Carnival if there was the possibility of a recurrence.
That, plus the curtailing of free movement by masqueraders along the San Fernando By-pass from Marabella to San Fernando on Monday night, were identified as two critical issues that could impact negatively on the mas. Last year, the police pulled the plug on Monday night mas, less than two hours after festivities started on Coffee Street. Bandleaders told Phillips their understanding was that Carnival began non-stop from J'Ouvert and ends at midnight on Tuesday.
Masqueraders from Marabella, accompanied by music trucks, said as they made their way to the San Fernando competition they were made to turn back by the police because that was not part of the official Carnival route. One bandleader suggested bandleaders make individual arrangements with the police to facilitate the process. Phillips, in a interview with the T&T Guardian, said the San Fernando Carnival Committee, chaired by Mayor Marlene Coudray, was scheduled to meet with the police on Monday to seek approval for the route. He promised these issues also would be discussed.
"We cannot encourage entrepreneurs to come into the Carnival business, put out a lot of money to make costumes and bring a band and then stop the mas one-and-a-half hours later. "That cannot work in San Fernando. It is not conducive to entrepreneurship. Carnival is our culture and we need to respect it," Phillips said. He also said there were several new initiatives in San Fernando Carnival, including a carnival village near Skinner Park, two separate competitions, one for J'Ouvert bands accompanied by DJs and the other for those accompanied by the steelband.
Pan and traditional mas would be judged on Harris Promenade, while mud mas and other competitions would be judged on Keate Street and Independence Avenue, he said. Stressing that in the past DJs "have been mashing up pan performance," Phillips appealed to them to respect the pan on Carnival days. He also appealed to roadside vendors who play loud music while the pan sides are passing to turn down their volume. "We must respect the pan," Phillips added.