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Loyse Vincent
For residents in the Calder Hall community, Carnival takes on a completely different meaning. While most Carnival fanatics are resting their feet for that last lap or putting the final touches on their costumes, Calder Hall encourages visitors to come and spend the entire Carnival Tuesday celebrating with them.
The day starts with a J'Ouvert procession by Pioneers of Calder Hall Traditional Carnival.
One of the organisers, Alistair James, told Tobago Today that the village celebration of Carnival has become an integral part of festivities on the island.
He said a few friends who felt they needed to do more for traditional mas formed the group approximately five years ago and decided to parade throughout the streets of Calder Hall with their own music truck.
"From inception, the concept was an easy sell for people from different backgrounds and it keeps growing every year."
This year the competition invites groups of ten or more people to portray their own personal interpretation of Dame Lorraine or Sailors with the theme “Shades of White”. The winning group gets a grand prize of a trip to Italy.
Following the J'Ouvert jump up, the action moves to either one of the two Calder Hall mud mas camps. The first camp called the "Original Dutty Camp" has been around for more than 30 years.
One of the mud mas camp's organisers Dexter Wallace said the Calder Hall mud mas experience was unique.
"Mud mas in Calder Hall is something that you just have to experience once you are taking part in Carnival in Tobago."
He said the two mud mas camps have their own following, with the Original Mud Mas Band offering prepared mud, which he said was of the highest standard.
"We take the preparation process very seriously. The dirt is sourced from different locations because we want different colours in the mas, like red mud, the brown and black and grey.
"In the days leading up to Carnival we source the dirt, clean and sanitise it by boiling, we add our little secret ingredients to make sure the mud is of the best quality before we offer it to the public."
The other camp, Modern Mud is a breakaway faction of the Original Mud Band.
"What we offer is really a sample of what it means to be a part of a loving community. We cook, we eat, we drink, we lime, we laugh, we don’t even have to know you before, but once you visit you will come back because you become a member of the Original Mud Band family."
During the afternoon hours, he said members prepare for the parade by applying mud to their bodies and once that process is complete the thousands of players end the day by descending upon Scarborough as the last band to cross the stage.