Steel Pan Festival

Do you enjoy listening to the ecstatic steel pan drums especially around Carnival time?  Playing an array of Trinbago music, from soca to chutney to anything actually! Then… you must experience that of the Steel Band Festival which is held during October to November!

Source: Discover TT (2016)

The Steel band Festival is normally held in Port of Spain, Trinidad during October to November over a three week period. So, you absolutely cannot miss it! It is a unique opportunity for the visitor to experience the only new musical invention of the 20th century.

Steel pan players compete in classical and indigenous traditions for categorised titles. The competition comprises two categories, the School Steel Bands and the National Steel Bands which occur on alternate years. There are normally three nights of preliminaries, two nights of semi-finals and the final night. The winning steel orchestras are usually awarded a prize trip to a major metropolitan centre to give public performances (TT Connect, 2016).    

    

                                      Source: Youtube (2016)

There are other steel band festivals occurring in Trinidad and Tobago for all the Steel Pan lovers:

1.   The most famous PANORAMA (Discussed in a separate post)

2.  The Trinidad and Tobago SteelPan and Jazz Festival (Formerly Pan Royale)

Steel pans (steel drums) are now features of jazz festivals and concerts. Jazz pannists such as Andy Narrell and Rudy Smith perform regularly all over the world. This festival is hosted by the Queen's Royal College Foundation of Trinidad

Most steel pan jazz combos comprise of traditional jazz instruments and a frontline steel pan. However, there are a few festivals where nearly all the instruments are steel pans.

3.  The Former- Pan Ramajay: This is an annual festival introduced in 1989 by the Exodus Steel Orchestra (a Trinidadian steelband).

   

Ramajay is the Trinidadian colloquial term for “showing off” and in a musical context, improvisation. A variety of musical genres from classical to jazz are played, all with healthy doses of improvisation or “ramajaying” (Best of Trinidad, 2016)

Competitive and playful interaction between performers and displays of technical virtuosity are key features of performances. The festival is limited to small steel pan ensembles and soloists. It is usually held each year in the month of May.