Despite the late cancellation of Carnival venues by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in November, party promoter Sheldon Stephen said he was satisfied with this year’s staging of the annual Xperience fete, held at Skinner Park, San Fernando, on Saturday.
The show, which featured more than 30 artistes, was relocated from the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
Stephen, of the Lollabee Group of Companies, said the move was inevitable and described it as a win-win situation.
He said the additional space at Skinner Park allowed the production team greater flexibility to execute the event.
Although the fete changed venues, Stephen said patrons responded positively to this year’s Xperience: Fire and Ice production, which was staged on a flat surface, offered improved toilet facilities and featured a better layout for food concessions.
He said it cost in excess of $2 million to stage the event.
“The attendance was amazing and we pretty much sold out,” Stephen said.
“With change, you have to persevere, and we did that. People still showed up, so it was a sold-out event. We catered for about 10,000 people, which was roughly the same number planned for the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. One of the wins was that Skinner Park is brand new, and we were fortunate to use the venue.”
However, the show, which began at 3 am, saw soca artistes making earnest attempts to energise patrons.
Several partygoers who were stage-side had to be repeatedly prompted by leading soca performers, such as Patrice Roberts, Machel Montano, Fay-Ann Lyons and Bunji Garlin, to run, wave or raise their hands.
Explaining the Fire and Ice theme, Stephen said it centred on two warriors—a phoenix and a tiger—who were fighting for their kingdom before choosing harmony over conflict.
“They found balance, which is equilibrium. With soca and Carnival, we need to live in harmony and always find balance. Nothing in life needs to be a fight down. Even when things change, we can still live in harmony. We really went all out to give patrons a good standard and a good production,” he said.
Stephen said the event ended with a performance by Iwer George and was incident- and accident-free.
