2011 Carriacou Parang Festival Weekend Activities

Friday Night December 21st ~ 8:00pm: The festival is decleared open officially by the Governor General, this is followed by the live performances of both junior and senior groups; singing Hosanna Christmas Carols Plus US $500.00 Money Bingo. VENUE: Silver Beach in Hillsborough....

The opening night is designed with the elderly folks in mind, since it is a time when they all come out to listen the groups sing their favourite Christmas Carols of years gone by.

The opening night is also for the children because Santa Claus will be making an appearance, bringing loads of toys and goodies for the little ones. Parents are urged to bring the young ones to the event.

Admission to the event on the opening night is free for all to participate and enjoy.....

Saturday Night December 22nd ~ 10:00pm: The festival continues with "Parang Bacchanal Saturday" featuring the All-Female Band SASS from Trinidad. VENUE: Belair Park.

Sunday Night December 23rd ~ 9:00pm: The festival climaxes with the much anticipated Parang String Bands Meléé competition. At Belair Park

The competition is organised among bands from different villages throughout Carriacou, Petit Martinique and Grenada.

Each band is comprised of eight members, who could be either male or female, the bands are judged on two rounds of competition. In the first round all the bands perform a compulsory Christmas Carol, known as the test-piece.

In the second round the bands perform their own Meléé composition, in this composition their lyrics are based on social, polictical and domestic affairs events that occur in their communities throughout the year.

The instruments used by the bands are all percussions and acoustics types. For those who may not understand all of the lyrics that will be sang by the bands, the melodious and harmonious sounds coming from the string instruments creates an atmosphere for a joyous and entertaining experience of a life time.

Finally there is the announcing of the results, followed by the handing out of the challenge trophy to the winner, along with cash prizes to all competing bands.

NB: Please come back to this page to be notified of any changes to the scheduled events of activities for the 2012 Carriacou Parang Festival weekend..............

Click Thumbnails to view large Photos

Special thanks to the contributors to the 2014 festival.....
		Mrs. Phyllis Nurse