For the first time in Dominica’s calypso history, three women will perform at one of the biggest events for Carnival, the Grand Calypso Finals to be held at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium Forecourt tonight.
They are former Calypso Monarch and Reigning Stardom Monarch of the Tent, Tasha ‘Tasha P” Peltier, Shanice, and Joy Stoute.
“It is a very special one to us. It is so special that first time in history that three women will be in the finals in Dominica Calypso in the person of Shanice, Joy and Tasha P,” Acting Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Dominica Calypso Association (DCA), Daryl Bobb said while delivering remarks at Dominica Festivals Committee (DFC) final Carnival press conference this week.
He said the other calypsonians who will perform are, Checker, Dice, Reigning calypso monarch Trilla-G, De Webb, Liberator, Black Diamond, and Bobb himself.
In terms of seating tickets, he revealed that they are all booked.
“We are working in a sort of a constrained environment in terms of the venue, it’s not very large. It is not large enough in terms of the calypso crowd that we have in Dominica,” Bobb explained.
He continued, “Our calypso being the most patronized in the Caribbean, something that we are very proud of, and because of that we cannot provide the amount of seating that we would ideally like for our patrons. And most of our patrons are the mature persons who cannot come to the show and stand up for four and five hours.”
Bobb added, “So it’s something that we are very conscious of and we are just letting you know as time goes by with development we will address these issues.”
He went on to state that the Grand Calypso Finals will be held in memory of the late media personality, Ferdina Frampton who died at the Dominica-China Friendship Hospital (DCFH) on January 17.
“Ferdina has been with us for many years as judge’s coordinator and we felt that we should dedicate this season to her,” Bobb declared.
Meanwhile, he encourages motorists to drive with caution to avoid accidents.
“I would like to say this, especially to our visitors, because something I have noticed is that during that time, we have an increase in accidents on the road and that is kind of natural. Our roads are very different to than in North America and England…and people don’t understand that you need to slow down,” Bobb stated. “We have a lot of corners.”
He continued, “Guys listening out there, when you come to Dominica and rent these vehicles take it easy on the roads, and let’s look forward to a safe and incident-free Carnival.”
The show is expected to begin at 8:30 p.m.
Regular tickets cost $100 and can be purchased at Depex Color Lab, Bull’s Eye Pharmacy at the gate, or on myfetetickets . Seating tickets cost $150.
Bobb encourages the general public to turn out in large numbers to support the event.
Well done to all the finalist!
However, can I remind Darryl Bobb that it is not the visitors in hired cars that make our roads dangerous, but our own local drivers. The plea should be to ALL Dominicans to be considerate on the roads. Slow down, dip those bright beam lights when approaching oncoming traffic and stop with the unnecessary taking over of vehicles. Why are you always in a rush? It’s also time for the law to start enforcing fines for traffic offences.
So please don’t spoil this carnival season with inconsideration for your fellow drivers. Remember, the hospital can’t cope with more accident patients!!