Note: I first wrote this in 2023. This year many people seemed to have taken to Paramin to experience the Blue Devils and just enjoy a different type of Carnival. It really does seem like this Carnival was the one to give us what we needed, and I love that for us.
I will explore what made this Carnival so amazing in another post, but I was reminded that I needed to share this article on my blog.

February 2, 2023 – Business Guardian

While it may be too early in the season to say if this is the “Mother of All Carnivals” from an economic perspective, Trinidad is being advised to understand the power of its regional Carnivals if it intends to remain the “Greatest Show on Earth!”

In the crowded landscape of Caribbean costume festivals, while Trinidad and Tobago may still remain king, or queen, it is constantly fending off challengers to the title: from the growing and developing regional Carnivals to the rise of Carnival-themed distination experiences and cruises like Mele Destinations and the Uber Soca cruises. All these, Dr. Jo-anne Tull said, offer experiences that could draw the typical visitor away if Trinidad and Tobago has no clear vision what it’s Carnival product is.

She would know. Dr. Tull is the academic coordinator of the UWI’s Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) postgraduate diploma in Arts Cultural and Enterprise Management, and the BA in Carnival Studies. Her areas of specialization include festival economics, festival statistics, and the business of carnival. Recently she was lead coordinator of the Festivals and Carnivals Accelerator Programme for Carnival Festival and Carnival Operators funded through the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Cultural and Creative Industries Industrial Fund (CIF)  and DCFA’s pilot training workshop on data capture and the measurement of festival’s tourism initiatives.

Data she says matters, but sadly we do not have enough of it. Analysts have to be creative with the data that is available, and even then Dr. Tull said it is only offers a snapshot. However, when data collection improves it would easier to identify the aspects of the Carnival that are the most attractive to its various participants.

For instance, there is the belief that the younger Carnival visitor is not drawn to the heritage aspects of Carnival, but Dr Tull advised that this is a misconception. “You cannot lose sight of the fact that the retention, the appreciation and the showcasing of the traditional aspects of the Carnival cannot be lost,” she said. And further explained,  “if those things were to be lost the authentic element, the indigenous nature of the Carnival would be gone and that very festival patron and festival visitor that comes every year anxiously for those other elements, the contemporary or the more commerciallised elements they would stop coming.” Why? “Because they would say this (Carnival) is not real again. This is not the real thing” she answered.

Therefore, Trinidad and Tobago is advised to figure out is the right balence of the heritage and the contemporary aspects of the festival.

The data that exists has idenified the profile of the typical Carnival attendee. The older visitor is likely to be a foreign-based national who is drawn to their familial experiences on the island. They are returning home and tend to be staying with relatives. They are familiar with the festival and know what events they will attend. These tend to include the traditional competitions and visits the panyards. They may be less attracted to the big fetes but may attend more fringe parties and events.

Conversely, the younger Carnival visitor may range in age from 22-38 years old and while they may have Caribbean roots they are more likely to stay in an air-BnB, a guesthouse or a hotel. They are more transient than the older traveller, meaning they are attracted to what is new, glamourous and cost-effective. For instance Tobago’s debut Carnival in October. While it may be possile to to turn them into repeat visitors, in general they are fickle and are on the hunt for the “new big thing” in mas.

While the allure of the pretty costume is strong, it is not enough to create a sustainable festival. Dr. Tull believes that all Carnivals need to have a unique selling proposition or USP. This USP is what Jamaica found by incorporating dancehall into their road experience. It is also what has lead to the emergence of the destination Carnival-type events that has become successful.

 “That is why the Uber Socas have come and are popular. Going to Dubai for the weekend. The Ibiza weekend,” she said. “These are offshoots of Carnival that are happening all over the world that have become very silently competitors to the main Carnival.”

For instance Machel Montano and Tribe Carnival’s Mele Destinations that launched in 2022 with in Mexico, returns in 2023 after a successful launch.

What does not seem to be a Carnival’s USP are the costumes. While important, ultimately it may be that the bikini and beads dazzle more brightly within a festival that has something else to define it. “It really doesn’t lie necessarily in how pretty the mas is on the road,” Dr. Tull said. In fact she believes T&T’s USP or ‘magic bullet’ is lodged within the community. Which is not to say that the costumes and their designers are not a major draw, but even for the masqueraders for whom these are their primary attractions, even they want a Carnival experiece that is anchored with a a unique festival experience, and Dr. Tull believes the regional Carnivals provide that opportunity.

“Trinidad has a very interesting, very strong flavoured community spirit that is tied to the way in which they socialise, which is liming,” she said. It is these elements that grabs the Carnival tourist because they are unique experiences that can not be duplicated, therefore there is no other option for the Carnival visitor who wants to experience kalinda (stickfighting) in Moruga or the Paramin Blue Devils

Therein lies the opportunity. “Could you imagine spending the whole week, apart from whatever feting you may be doing, one night you go in Paramin. One night you go Carapichima. Next night you go down South for the fancy Indian,” she said. This spreads the Carnival experiences far and wide broadening the Carnival economy across the country and because those experiences can only be had here the visitor is induced to return multiple times. For them the draw is that “you are in the communities where this thing is born.” And for the communities they are “making money…cause you can’t tell a Trinidadian how to throw a fete.”

This point aligns with a statement John Arnold made while discussing Tobago’s ability to host two Carnivals and role of Tobago within the natonal festival in February. The Chief Executive Officer of the Tobago Festivals Commission pointed out that the general public believes Carnival only takes place in Port-of-Spain which is inaccurate.

“We have several regional Carnivals and Tobago fits in to that snugly,” he said. He continued, “When you tell people Arima has a Carnival. Sangre Grande have Carnival you know. Tunapuna, South has Carnival. People don’t know. All these places have a Carnival and it’s a good Carnival.”

He also argues for the appeal of these regional Carnivals. Describing the one in Tobago as ‘accessible’ and ‘laidback” which could appeal to some visitors. Which is the point Dr. Tull is making. She believes T&T can offer the Port-of-Spain festival and a suite of Carnival activies across both islands as a draw for tourists.

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