OFFICIALS of the San Fernando Carnival Committee (SFCC) were left red in the face when their showcase Carnival event, Pre-Dimanche Gras, held last Wednesday night in Skinner Park turned into total ole mas!

The show started an hour late and ended abruptly at 1 a.m. after the police band struck the last note with the showcase event, the calypso competition only halfway through.

A decision on the results was not made up to Press time, as South Central TUCO officials were locked in a meeting discussing their next move; so 2005 winner Brian London got to hold onto the title a little longer.

Nothing went right on a “Night of the Sando Monarch” -- South’s noted Pre-Dimanche Gras show -- that had attracted a larger crowd than in previous years. Patrons made it known with constant, slow handclaps.

Organisers blamed the tardiness on the delayed arrival of the police band but sooner than later things began falling apart.

It happened fast.

Two patrons who demanded their money back.

King and Queen of Carnival PEOLA
MARCHAN and LEROY PRIETO both
from the band “Egypt, Land of
the Pharaohs”.

Embarrassed SFCC officials, San Fernando
Mayor IAN ATHERLY, Alderman JUNIA
REGRELLO and others analyse the
situation.

Members of the police band push their stalled
police bus.

Disappointed calypsonian BRIAN LONDON
and others discuss the problem.

Calypsonian Lady Adana had to withdraw because a fallen fluorescent bulb seriously injured her two daughters Kernisha Charles and Whitney Joseph.

Artistes became frustrated by the lack of sufficient microphones for performers and chorus singers.

Prolonged problems with the sound system forced organisers to put the Kings and Queens of Carnival ahead of the calypso contest.

The music could not start when it was the children’s turn to come on stage, causing the House of Jacqui and Ivan Kallicharan young masqueraders to suffer through longer delays.

The media, too, had to sit in the dark in a muddy area out on the field. Officials blamed this on the inclement weather.

But the biggest disappointment came when MC Damien Melville announced that the show had come to an end after just one round of calypsoes.

To continue the comedy, police officers had to push their stalled bus out of the park.

Meanwhile, Leroy Prieto’s “Horus The Avenger” and Peola Marchan’s “The Adoration of Isis” were crowned King and Queen respectively.

They both come from the band, “Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs.”