The National Carnival Commission (NCC) is confident that the seating in the Grand Stand will be sufficient to accommodate attendees of the National Panorama Small Conventional Bands Finals on Saturday.
Communications specialist Kyle Pilgrim said that the Grand Stand is able to hold 7,000 people and he anticipated it would be enough to seat patrons attending the event.
“Construction on the North Stand began late last year. We have projected a completion date of late January/early February 2023. I don’t imagine the North stand being a big part of the Small Bands Competition, so the seats that would be open would be in the Grand Stand.
“Work is still ongoing on the stage (as of Wednesday) but it will be ready in time for Saturday’s competition.”
[caption id="attachment_995201" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A crew works on the construction of the North Stand at the Queen's Park Savannah on Tuesday in preparation for upcoming Carnival events. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
In response to an email sent by Newsday last week, the NCC said the Grand Stand is purposed to hold approximately 7,000 patrons, while the North Stand will hold approximately 5,000. The stage is more than 200 feet in length and 50 feet in width, proving a spacious and sturdy surface area for all events hosted on it.
Over a dozen events will be held in the Queen’s Park Savannah over the course of January and February.
“In addition to hosting some of the major shows on the Carnival 2023 calendar, including Panorama, the Kings and Queens Competition, and Dimanche Gras, Carnival City will also be the home of several beloved and new events that touch on every aspect of Carnival.”
The NCC’s current schedule can be found at https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/news/869-carnival-2023-calendar-of-events.html.
The NCC said it had its sight set on finishing the vendor booths at the Savannah by the end of January, as construction began off-site late last year.
“We had begun assembling the booths at our warehouse in El Socorro as early as October 2022, which greatly facilitated the speed at which we were able to have them prepared for the Savannah for 2023. While an exact date of completion would be hard to supply, we have set our sights on finishing before the end of January. Without a doubt, all works will be completed with sufficient time for the vendors to set up and sell their goods.”
[caption id="attachment_995202" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Vendor booths are being constructed at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on Tuesday, in preparation for Carnival events. - Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
The NCC said the vending application process was successfully started and completed in December 2022.
“The booths are allocated in response to the applications submitted and services provided. While space is limited, we made provisions for more than 100 vendor booths spaces, catering to as wide a range as possible of service providers. In terms of the distribution ratio, it is difficult to say at this time, however, we can safely say th
