The National Parang Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NPATT) welcomes a new sponsor for the Secondary Schools segment of this year’s Junior Parang Competition.
Epic Fete Promotions (EFP) has agreed to sponsor the first, second, and third place prizes for the Secondary School’s competition which is scheduled to take place in November.
Epic Fete Promotions is a US-based outfit, that hosts parang and soca parang events in New York and Florida. Its aim is to preserve Caribbean culture through live events.
Speaking at the recently held prize-giving ceremony for the 2022 winners at Mille Fleurs, Port of Spain, EFP’s CEO Joan Nicom-Gould said her group was happy to support the Junior festival. “We made a decision to invest in the youth,” she said.
Joseph Bertrand, NPATT’s Youth Officer and the Association are grateful for the investment by Epic Fete Promotions. “This investment will go a long way in engaging our youth in parang and developing the craft and we look forward to working with Epic Fete Promotions for future endeavours,” Betrand said.
The Junior Parang Competition started in 1978, and was the brainchild of Henrietta Carter, who is the current vice-president of NPATT.
Also speaking at the prize-giving, Carter expressed the hope that more schools will participate this season. “We want to encourage Corporate T&T to support the preservation of the artform,” she
added.
Before the youth competition gets into full swing, young parranderos and their teachers are invited to attend an online Youth Lecture Series.
Youth Officer for the Association, Joseph Bertrand said the lecture series is meant to engage the next generation of parranderos, so that they understand the tradition of the artform.
“Appreciating parang comes with understanding how it came here,” Bertrand said. “The Youth Lecture Series will offer some background, to keep the youngsters motivated, so that they are inspired to continue participating the artform.”
On October 11, Dr Francisca Allard will discuss the History of Parang and on October 18, seasoned parranderos Alicia Jaggasar, Neal Marcano, and Cassell George will discuss the House Parang Experience. Both sessions will take place at 5:30 pm via Zoom.
To register for the Junior competition and the Youth Lecture Series, please contact Joseph Bertrand at 354-4419 or email [email protected]