The Story

Know Your Purpose

Mac Farlane Carnival 2017 is here to let art imitate life.

After a 3-year hiatus, Bandleader Brian Mac Farlane has sent shockwaves throughout the Carnival fraternity by returning to the Greatest Show on Earth for a one-time offering for Carnival Monday and Tuesday 2017. The official theme of his presentation for next season is called Cazabon: The Art of Living.

For quite some time, Mac Farlane has been concerned about the conservation and preservation of our national architecture and heritage sites – from the regal Magnificent 7 structures, to the beautiful gingerbread houses scattered across the twin-island Republic, including areas such as Belmont and Woodbrook. The Mac Farlane Carnival Design Team thought it was time to highlight the current state of these structures, while bringing focus to the beauty and fragility of our national heritage. Other reputable organisations have taken notice and joined the ranks of support for Mac Farlane Carnival 2017, including Citizens for Conservation, The National Trust and the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago.

This time around, Mac Farlane has collaborated with a stellar cast of the top fashion designers from Trinidad and Tobago. These designers include include Adrian Foster, Charu Lochan Dass, Claudia Pegus, Dayle Angus (Tobago), Dianne Hunt, Dhisha Moorjani (House of Jaipur), Fazaad Mohammed, Heather Jones, Peter Elias and Sonia Mack. He has also created a mentorship opportunity for designers Kaleen Sanois and Harvey Robertson – two graduate students of the Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design from the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) who received top-class honours as Students of The Year in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

In his view, Trinidad and Tobago are in the throes of reclaiming the purpose of our future – hence, the significance of launching his 2017 presentation at the statuesque Queen’s Royal College in Port of Spain.

“In the tradition of the resilience of our people, we choose to strip away frivolity and embrace our valiant, poetic history,” says the record-holding 7-time consecutive Band of The Year The Year artisan. “This is a creative call to act. Arm in arm, as a nation we must fight back against neglect, by celebrating our beautifully diverse culture and awakening the spirit of promise across the islands. Let us dance together in the revelry of renaissance in the streets of Port of Spain. Be enthralled by the fashion of our humanity. Here begins the archetype of our architecture.”

Mac Farlane Carnival 2017 calls on the nation to join together as we break the muted silence to present splendor, beauty and revelry with a purpose, while acknowledging our profoundly rich heritage and history.