Nighttime Melting Pot

The city at night is also a melting pot as it attracts residents, friends, lovers, co- workers, students, acquaintances and tourists (Grazian, 2009). As in the day, people come to the city to access the goods and services that it offers during the night. During the Carnival season, the urban nights are filled with events just as the day creating opportunities that illustrate the diversity of its people.  These events all incorporate elements of the rich Trinidadian culture thus encouraging an increase in diversity, acceptance and equity.

The first photo shows the coming together of people at an event that they all had a common interest in despite their difference. At all of these events the audience is never people from one culture or one segment of society. It is always mixed and facilitates interaction between the locals and the tourists. The first photo was taken at Fatima Fete and just one example of an event that brought people from different cultures together.

Fatima Fete 2015

The second and third photo was taken at Carnival Village. In an effort to promote and sustain Trinidad’s culture, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in 2011 organised a Carnival Village (Trinidad Express Newspapers, 2011). Placed in the center of the city, the Queen’s Park Savannah, it aims to showcase our culture and provide information about it. During the day as well as the night there are many booths displaying carnival costumes, providing booklets for people to read, and displaying other artifacts that has contributed to Trinidad and Tobago’s culture. 

Side entrance to Carnival Village

Placed in the center of the city, the Queen’s Park Savannah, it aims to showcase our culture and provide information about it. During the day as well as the night there are many booths displaying carnival costumes, providing booklets for people to read, and displaying other artifacts that has contributed to Trinidad and Tobago’s culture. The photos show an event held in the night promoting local entertainment associated with Carnival. This Carnival Village has served as a melting pot not only because it showcases the different cultures in Trinidad but because it also brings together different people in one spot!

Display in Carnival Village

Trinidad and Tobago, the home of Carnival, the ‘greatest show on Earth’, has bypassed many Caribbean countries in the way it promotes and develops its culture. This is mainly as a result of its economy which allows for significant figures to be used to fund these events and shows. Other countries in the Caribbean do not experience this, at least not to this extent. However, since the Caribbean has a shared history, a lot of what is displayed can be linked to the other Caribbean islands as well.

References:

Grazian, David (2009) Urban Nightlife, Social Capital, and the Public Life of Cities. Sociological Forum 24.4, 908-917. Accessed March 2^nd, 2015 from http://works.bepress.com/david_grazian/11

Trinidad Express Newspapers (2015) “Carnival Village opens today.”  Retrieved on March 3^rd, 2015 from http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Carnival-Village-opens-today-289747581.html