Eleven-time Na­tion­al Pa­naro­ma cham­pi­ons Trinidad All Stars Steel Or­ches­tra (TAS­SO) will be cel­e­brat­ing its 90th an­niver­sary to­day.

TAS­SO is invit­ing cit­i­zens to join in a day-long cel­e­bra­tion at their his­toric pan-yard on Duke Street, Port-of-Spain, from 6 am to 6 pm.

TAS­SO pub­lic re­la­tions man­ag­er Staci-Ann Patrick said the mile­stone an­niver­sary is a tes­ta­ment to re­silience, com­mu­ni­ty spir­it, and the mag­ic of the steel­pan.

“Born in the cru­cible of the 1935 Hunger March as Bad Be­hav­iour, TAS­SO has not just sur­vived; it has thrived, be­com­ing a sym­bol of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty,” she added.

“While the names ‘Big Head’ Hamill and Rudolph ‘Fish Eye’ Ol­liviere mark its for­ma­tion, it was the un­wa­ver­ing prin­ci­ples of dis­ci­pline, mag­nif­i­cence, and ded­i­ca­tion in­stilled by the late vi­sion­ary Neville Jules that tru­ly forged the band’s en­dur­ing suc­cess.”

In 1935 and for many decades af­ter steel­pan yards and their men, women and chil­dren were mar­gin­alised in this coun­try.

“We faced many neg­a­tive stereo­types—this even went to the in­stru­ment as it was made out of dis­card­ed oil drums,” Patrick said.

“Trinidad All Stars has prid­ed it­self in demon­strat­ing dis­ci­pline year af­ter year. This dis­ci­pline has al­lowed us to fine tune our craft and be­come not on­ly ex­cel­lent in our per­for­mances but a house­hold name among peo­ple across the world.”

The pass­ing of Jules dur­ing the on­set of the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic in 2020, left a deep void as fam­i­ly and band mem­bers were not able to cel­e­brate his life in true Trin­bag­on­ian style with a wake.

TAS­SO found an unique way to ho­n­our his lega­cy and the im­por­tance of fam­i­ly.

“This be­gan with a pas­sion­ate call for mem­bers and fans to proud­ly wear their All Stars jer­seys on his birth­day, which is al­so May 21,” she said.

“This has con­tin­ued and the trib­ute evolved in­to the re­nam­ing of the icon­ic George and Duke Street cor­ner to Neville Jules Junc­tion in 2021, and the launch of the band’s rich his­to­ry in the book Met­tle and Met­al with au­thor Buk­ka Ren­nie in 2024.”

The TAS­SO gates will open for a unique pan lime ex­pe­ri­ence from 6 am.

Pan lovers can en­joy spe­cial of­fers on lo­cal de­lights from Tan­ty and oth­er ven­dors through­out the day—from break­fast bites to lunchtime spe­cials—there will al­so be deals on hair­cuts, man­i­cures, and cloth­ing!

From noon to 3 pm, there will be screen­ings of icon­ic per­for­mances, while band mem­bers will share sto­ries and soak in the vi­brant at­mos­phere, com­plete with the wit­ty ban­ter that makes Trinidad and To­ba­go cul­ture unique.

The yard will come alive with the ex­hil­a­rat­ing sounds of both the Trinidad All Stars Ju­nior and Se­nior Or­ches­tras from 5.30 pm.

There will al­so be an art ex­hi­bi­tion to walk through and a pop-up mar­ket fea­tur­ing goods and ser­vices of­fered by mem­bers of the or­ches­tra.

An awards cer­e­mo­ny will be held in recog­ni­tion of those who have giv­en the band un­wa­ver­ing sup­port over the years.