Daren Lee Sing

CEO, TTCSI

Carnival, often regarded as one of the world's largest and most vibrant celebrations of music, dance, and culture, takes place annually, attracting thousands of locals and international visitors. Carnival is not just an event; it is a celebration of the nation’s rich history, creativity, and diverse cultural heritage. TTCSI delves into the economic, social, and cultural benefits and costs of our Carnival, highlighting its role in creativity, tourism, and economic development, while also addressing the challenges it presents.

Carnival’s roots date back to the French colonial era, evolving from European traditions and African rituals and grew into a festival attracting thousands of visitors each year. It consists inter-alia of stickfighting, mas, steelpan and calypso/soca music. Stickfighting is an old African tradition which was brought by slaves. The place in which the battle takes place is the gayelle. An important part to the gayelle is also the music and the chantwell leads the call-and-response which is better referred to as lavway. This fight is often accompanied by a dance known as "carray" and the winner is determined by the first fighter that draws blood.

Benefits for Carnival includes tourism revenue, SME employment and international recognition. Tourism revenue generated approximately $70,000,000 in 2024 with the average stay of one person being 13 days. Carnival is known to generate approximately $400 million in direct economic activity annually with the minister of tourism stating that local and visitor spending accumulated more than US$1 billion.

Temporary job creation for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) generated more than 15,000 jobs for Carnival, said Minister of Tourism Randall Mitchell. Carnival supports thousands of temporary jobs in multiple sectors such as event management, music production, catering, arts and craft and costume design. These SME’s thrive during Carnival as they mainly depend on this period for the majority of their income.

Sharing the culture at the international level is vital to our growth if we wish to consistently increase our earnings during Carnival and beyond. During the off-season, it is especially important for our biggest musical artistes to become exports themselves, and go abroad to various diaspora events and locations such as the Tribe created 2023 Melé Destinations in Cancun, Mexico where Machel Montano was one of the headline performers. The Caribbean awards in Brooklyn, New York is another excellent way to advertise our culture which was not known at one time. With the largest Caribbean diaspora making up approximately 20 per cent of New York City, it is essential that we continue to share our culture and advertise to entice foreigners to visit TT for Carnival.

There are benefits and costs relative to Carnival. Some include but are not limited to losses in forex, barriers for SMEs seeking to compete with global manufacturers and waste management. Losses in forex may be due to importing a majority of raw materials ne