Minister of Culture and Community Development Michelle Benjamin says her Ministry and the National Carnival Commission (NCC) continue to support the Tobago House of Assembly with Carnival preparations on the island.
Speaking on the sidelines of Brother Valentino’s funeral on Thursday, the Minister said ongoing discussions with the THA’s Secretary of Tourism, Antiquities and Creative Industries, Zorisha Hackett, have ensured that the necessary arrangements are in place.
“I am in conversation with the Secretary, Miss Hackett, and I can tell you she already has everything in place, and whatever support that she requested from not just the Ministry, from my State Board, which is NCC, we would have done our part, and we continue to stand by their side. But as you would have seen from the Titan competition, the Calypso competition that happened last night, everything is in train and happening successfully.”
Turning to preparations for Trinidad’s 2027 Carnival, Minister Benjamin said work is already underway to strengthen the Flava Village initiative, which was introduced to provide performance opportunities for artistes while supporting the development of the local creative sector.
“We are working on improving that entry of Flava, and of course my main thing is to make sure that the artistes earn. One thing I realise sometimes we have these exercises, but the booking of the artistes and making sure that we have the young and the not so young on the stage and also with regards to the steelpan fraternity, we’re trying to create an element that they and all could enter the Savannah space outside of the normal Panorama competition.”
The Minister also provided an update on outstanding payments for the 2026 Carnival season.
“All Carnival stakeholders with regards to prizes have been paid and as you rightfully said, we are working with regards to making preparation for a successful Carnival 2027.”