Panorama

Trinidad and Tobago's most famous steel pan festival....Panorama. The link below illustrates a throwback of Panorama 2017...just in case you missed it!

Structure of Panorama: Panorama is open to both conventional and single pan steelbands. Currently, there are three rounds of competition:

1. Preliminary round

2. Semi-final round

3. Final round

All rounds are now done while the band is stationary and positioned directly in front of the judges.

The preliminary round takes place in the respective panyards while up until reccently, the other rounds are held at the Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain, fondly called the ‘Big Yard’.

According to The Best of Trinidad (2016), in 1963, the government of Trinidad and Tobago in conjunction with the National Association of Trinidad and Tobago Steelbandsmen (NATTS) launched a new steelband competition called Panorama. 

Crowds of supporters religiously followed their favorite Panorama band every year. Corporate sponsors seized this excellent publicity opportunity and began to pump money into steelbands. Sponsorship money meant the steelbands could now offer reasonable compensation to their arrangers and pan players.

Source: SteelBand Drums (2016)

Panorama also demanded a new approach to arranging calypsos. The arrangements done previously for fetes and street parades were now too simple for the competition. Complex introductions and key modulations began to be used in the arrangements, and this is still a key feature of Panorama music today.

There is also a Junior Panorama for school age children and it is just as competitive as the senior competition. It is seen as an important training ground for the adult Panorama competition and for the steelband movement on a whole.