When the sun sets on July 22, the Spirit of Carnival will descend on Ariapita Avenue, heralding the start of the TRIBE Family of Bands’ SUNSETWKN (Sunset Weekend).
FRIDAY SUNSETWKN, the launch of the TRIBE Family of Bands’ (TRIBE FOB) Carnival 2023 presentation, is a condensation of Carnival experiences into three days, kicking off on Friday evening, with a cultural spectacle dubbed the Ariapita Street Theatre.
Mix Body: The FREE, starts at 7 p.m. at Ana Street on Ariapita Avenue, and elements of the presentation will unfold at various stops along the Avenue.
SATURDAY
Street Theatre spectators will be treated to a Broadway-style theatrical and choreographed depiction of the many cultural elements of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
Tribe CEO Dean Ackin, explained, “The intention of the Ariapita Street Theatre, is really to create that opportunity for the whole community to come together and celebrate our Carnival.
“We saw the response to Lavway, the feature film released in February last year—called our love letter to Carnival—there was a real sense of pride and joy and love for our culture when we saw the reaction to that film. We want to translate that now back into an in-person experience, something you can bring your family to and enjoy. It’s also an opportunity for our creative community to come together for the first time in a long time and do what they do best—entertain and bring joy to people through their performance.”
SUNSETWKN’s Saturday itinerary starts early in the morning with SUNsweat, a free fitness fete experience at the Hasely Crawford Training Grounds, Port of Spain. Exercise and Carnival have always been inextricably linked but now, more than ever, health and wellness are top priority.
The SUNsweat concept incorporates elements of our traditional music and dance into a fitness routine, making it an accessible and enjoyable workout for participants of all ages.
On Saturday night, TRIBE FOB will officially reveal the costumes of all six bands under its umbrella —TRIBE, Bliss, The Lost Tribe, Harts, Rogue and Pure —at The Launch at Jean Pierre Complex.
The event layout and presentation will be a significant departure from the format of previous years, as the Family of Bands has reinvented its approach to the band launch experience for patrons.
SUNDAY Sunday’s event is Las Jam Carnival—a TRIBE fete, which many will know as the Family of Bands’ farewell to Carnival, where costumed masqueraders gather at the Hasely Crawford Stadium for one last pump on the Sunday after Carnival.
This time though, Las Jam Carnival will mark the end of SUNSETWKN, but signify the start of the journey to Carnival 2023 and Trinidad & Tobago’s triumphant return to the Greatest Show on Earth.
Commenting on the decision to have a three-day-long launch instead of the conventional one-off event, Ackin said, “We haven’t hosted a band launch since 2019. We knew this year we had to do something new, fresh and different. A multi-day event gives us the opportunity to create a range of experiences that can appeal to different audiences. We know playing mas may not be accessible to everyone but this weekend will let people get a taste of all the elements of the festival—the music, the dance, the theatre, the costumes, the fetes. Ultimately, we’re also hoping SUNSETWKN can become a blueprint for an alternative tourism product—a destination weekend that visitors would want to fly in to experience.”
Ackin expects 2023 to be a bumper year for Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
“We have had an unprecedented and overwhelming response to our pre-booking for Carnival 2023. Carnival is such an integral part of our psyche and who we are as a people, and it’s been two years since we’ve been able to experience it fully. People need it. Carnival has always been a massive stress reliever, and we have had over two years of immense stress and hardly any form of release. Now we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and 2023 is going to be a huge celebration of that.”
Ariapita Street Theatre and SUNsweat are free to the public. Tickets for SUNSETWKN’s paid events on Saturday and Sunday are on sale and are available at TRIBE Mas Camp on Rosalino Street, Woodbrook and online at Island eTickets.
Early bird tickets for The Launch and Las Jam Carnival are $400 each. For more details visit the SUNSETWKN Instagram page at https://instagram.com/sunsetwkn
