On Tuesday 12 November, the Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre (FRC), in collaboration with the Carnival Music Management Committee (CMMC), held a symposium focusing on Soca music, mainly Calypso music in Saint Lucia.
The forum, described as a ‘kaiposium,’ was chaired by cultural icon Kennedy ‘Boots’ Samuel and was held at the Anglican School Annex in Castries. The meeting began with an address from the Chairman of the CMMC, Claude Paul, who expressed that he was happy to have the opportunity to discuss the calypso season and the work of the CMMC.
During his address, he mentioned that the organisation oversaw eleven tent shows, the Groovy and Power Soca semi-finals and finals, input into the School’s Calypso, and the return of the Inter-Commercial Calypso competition.
‘Sixty per cent of the Government subvention is used to support the artist, musicians and sound engineers, a sum of two hundred thousand, one hundred and ninety-seven Eastern Caribbean dollars’, stated the Chairman.
Mister Paul went on to share that corporate support shows signs of improvement, there were a limited number of tent shows, and the tents made no attempt to raise revenue after the carnival season.
The CMMC Chairman reiterated that the CMMC was not the Calypso association, highlighting several issues, including revising the competition rules and criteria and, most importantly, establishing a committee to represent Calypso.
Another speaker for the night was Sylvester Clauzel; he weighed in on the judging of the Calypso competition and provided an in-depth analysis of the scoring for the semi-final and finals for 2024. Attendees also heard presentations from tent leaders such as Cecil Charles of The TOT/Soca Village Tent, Lenon ‘Blaze’ Prospere and Michael Esnard of Soca The Ultimate Tent on the positives and negatives of their respective organisations for the 2024 carnival season.
Later in the program, an insightful discussion was held. Among the points discussed were steep fees for mass crowd protocols, insufficient sponsorship, and the need for airplay of Saint Lucian Calypso and Soca on local airwaves. A concern also raised was the excessive playing of non-local music during the parade of the bands.
The evening culminated with the unveiling of a publication, Lucian Kaiso for 2024, by Embert Charles and the recognition by the FRC of Carnival music monarch. The 2024 Junior Primary School Monarch, Kenyan Osman of the Mongouge Primary School, was in attendance. Other awardees who were recognised but not in attendance were the Secondary School Junior Monarch Yandi James of the Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School, Inter-Commercial Calypso King, Preacher, Groovy Monarch Sly and Power Soca Monarch and Road March King Ricky T.
