So­cadrome Vil­lage will re­turn for Car­ni­val 2026 at the Jean Pierre Com­plex, with or­gan­is­ers promis­ing an ex­pand­ed and reimag­ined cul­tur­al space un­der the theme Rhythms of the Re­pub­lic.

The Min­istry of Cul­ture and Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Na­tion­al Car­ni­val Com­mis­sion of Trinidad and To­ba­go, said the ini­tia­tive aims to strength­en Car­ni­val’s role as an ex­pres­sion of na­tion­al iden­ti­ty, cre­ativ­i­ty and com­mu­ni­ty de­vel­op­ment.

Min­is­ter of Cul­ture and Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment Michelle Ben­jamin said the So­cadrome is near­ing com­ple­tion and will be ready for Car­ni­val Tues­day 2026.

“The con­struc­tion of the So­cadrome is al­most com­plet­ed and will be ready for our bumper Car­ni­val 2026, Tues­day. It will be a space for every­one – mas­quer­aders, adults, chil­dren, small busi­ness own­ers and artistes, alike,” Ben­jamin said.

She said the So­cadrome adds val­ue to the Car­ni­val prod­uct and con­tributes as an in­come-gen­er­at­ing ven­ture, both in Port of Spain and na­tion­al­ly.

“With its en­hanced lay­out and up­grad­ed fa­cil­i­ties, So­cadrome Vil­lage 2026 strength­ens this lega­cy by pro­vid­ing an in­clu­sive plat­form where cul­ture, com­merce and com­mu­ni­ty in­ter­sect,” or­gan­is­ers said.

So­cadrome Vil­lage 2026 will fea­ture live per­for­mances high­light­ing so­ca, ca­lyp­so and steel­pan, along­side food, re­tail and in­ter­ac­tive cul­tur­al ex­pe­ri­ences, as well as a fam­i­ly-friend­ly en­vi­ron­ment for pa­trons and stake­hold­ers.

TRIBE Group chief ex­ec­u­tive of­fi­cer Dean Ackin said the project re­flects the breadth of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s cul­tur­al ex­pres­sion.

“Rhythms of the Re­pub­lic re­flects the di­verse sounds, move­ments and sto­ries of Trinidad and To­ba­go, cel­e­brat­ing Car­ni­val not on­ly as a fes­ti­val, but as a liv­ing cul­tur­al econ­o­my,” Ackin said.