Sascha Wil­son

Se­nior Re­porter

sascha.wil­son@guardian.co.tt

The sound of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s na­tion­al in­stru­ment will take cen­tre stage to­day as the coun­try cel­e­brates World Steel­pan Day with per­for­mances, an an­ces­tral walk and a ma­jor youth con­cert at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah, Port-of-Spain.

The na­tion­al cel­e­bra­tion fol­lows a live­ly World Pan Day show­down at South Park Plaza on Sun­day, where Massy Trinidad All Stars Youth Steel Or­ches­tra re­tained its ti­tle, de­feat­ing Siparia Del­tones be­fore a cheer­ing crowd.

The two or­ches­tras, made up of young pan­nists from north and south, treat­ed pa­trons to a show­case of tal­ent, with the au­di­ence al­so serv­ing as judges.

Massy Trinidad All Stars cap­tain Alessan­dra-Maria La­m­ont said the 35-mem­ber or­ches­tra, whose play­ers range from sev­en to 21, was con­fi­dent go­ing in­to the com­pe­ti­tion.

“I knew we were go­ing to win be­cause I knew we came with new mu­sic and were go­ing to mash up the place and would have been a crowd pleas­er,” she said.

To­day, Pan Trin­ba­go, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Min­istry of Cul­ture and Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment, con­tin­ues the cel­e­bra­tions un­der the theme “Rhythm and Rise: Youth. Dis­ci­pline. Cul­ture. Com­mu­ni­ty.”

The fes­tiv­i­ties be­gin at 10 am at the Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Or­ches­tra pa­n­yard, where youth steel or­ches­tras from across the coun­try will per­form.

At 1.30 p, pan­nists, sup­port­ers and mem­bers of the pub­lic will take part in an An­ces­tral Walk, pay­ing trib­ute to the pi­o­neers of the steel­pan move­ment.

The walk will end at the bp Rene­gades Steel Or­ches­tra pa­n­yard, where an­oth­er youth show­case be­gins at 2.15 pm.

The cel­e­bra­tions cul­mi­nate at 5.30 pm at the Big Stage at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah with an evening con­cert fea­tur­ing lead­ing youth steel or­ches­tras.

The day’s ac­tiv­i­ties are in­tend­ed to ho­n­our the pi­o­neers of the in­stru­ment while show­cas­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of pan­nists and the con­tin­ued evo­lu­tion of steel­pan.

Ad­mis­sion is free.