Don't Stop the Carnival

The sun peeked out of a cloudy sky and lit the lake silver in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Yellow paddle canoes shuttled their occupants across the water, and young lovers chose shady trees to whisper brand new emotions. The ducks, however, moved silently away from the commotion.

One week after the Labour Day carnival, Trinidadians were still jumping to steelband music in the streets, and for about two miles, in the park.

One steelband and a quatro group drew several hundred people who seemed intent on squeezing a last lap out of the event.

'Our Culture'

"It's an indication of how much we love our culture," says Mervyn Taylor, a Trinidadian poet and writer.

Another Trinidadian, Cora Daniel, the Special Events Coordinator for Prospect Park who secured a permit for the group, thought that the absence of Panorama in Brooklyn this year was responsible for this last burst of energy.

The sedate of Sunday atmosphere of Prospect Park took on a festive air with the arrival of the visitors. Trinidadians danced through the Park to the Music of Golden Stars steel orchestra and Lion and the Naturals, intoxicated with both the music and the grog.

A couple of mas pieces swayed between the trees, and a few masqueraders mingled with the "chippers."

Robber

One guy dressed as a robber pointed two caps pistols skyward and blew his whistle incessantly into the wind. But the revellers had ears only for the music.

Behind Golden Stars a flag woman with exceptional dexterity and the Thighs of a weight lifter led Lion and the Naturals and the dozens who packed in closely to enjoy the quatro strumming and some superb percussion.

Michael Scanterbury enervated the crowd when he led the chorus to tunes like "Bahia Girl" and "The Hammer." When the procession finally exited Prospect Park , it continued in the streets as far as the steelband's panyard a few blocks away. Then a small group went around the block one more time for a lagniappe.

The police precinct sent only one squad car to control the crowd, one officer said, because police officials don't expect any trouble when Trinidadians are enjoying themselves.

His partner, with severe earnestness, rapped on the car to the beat of the calypso, probably able to understand why Harlemites would reject such sweet music.

On the Sunday after Labour Day a few steelbands from Brooklyn traditionally join the Afro-American Day Parade in Harlem. This year, however, that parade was postponed for a week. To make matters worse, its organisers say they don't want the steelbands to participate because of an alleged bottle-throwing incident at the 1985 parade.

Insulted, but not angry, Trinidadians simply applied for a permit to parade in Prospect Park for the many Brooklynites who usually attend the Harlem Parade, this turned out to be a splendid idea. It is closer to home, and everyone who jumped to Golden Stars agreed that the pan is sweeter in Brooklyn.

The band's rendition of Kitchener's "Pan Here to Stay" took revellers to the air, with the pointed finger trademark visible every where.

Some American-born Teenagers, suspiciously Trinidadian in behaviour, tried with difficulty to tailor the latest dances to the calypso beat. Rum passed as profusely as if it were Port of Spain. And , as usual, the steelband racks bumped on everyone's heels.