TriniView.com Staff Article
Event Date: December 18, 2006
Posted: December 20, 2006
Parang lovers by the thousands came together for the Paramin Parang Festival 2006 which took place on Monday 18th December, 2006, on the hills of Paramin. This year was the 29th anniversary of this celebration and the turn out was fantastic as usual.
The journey to Paramin alone was an experience. Driving up the steep, undulating hills in the large jeeps proved to be daunting yet quite exciting. Although the Paramin area is not that far into the country, the sharp bends and turns as well as the height of the terrain made the journey seem quite long.
The scenery was quite enchanting and looking at the country light up from above was also quite breathtaking.
The event which started at around eight, about half an hour before the scheduled start time, was tightly packed with patrons that filled the grounds. Thousands more spilled over onto the periphery of the area looking down on the Parang from higher ground.
The night began with a prayer in patois by Peter 'Choco' Tardieu followed by some Parang selections played by the DJ during the set up for the first band. Already people could be seen pairing off and dancing and gyrating to the popular Parang music.
The first band to hit the stage was La Estrellas de Paramin who started the programme off nicely. They and the Paraminios Parang band were the two bands that represented Paramin Parang quite well. Other bands included: Mucho Tempo, Los Buenos Paranderos, Amantes de Parranda, Los Amigos Cantadores, Lara Brothers and Del Caribe. Although all the bands gave splendid performances, the Lara Brothers and the Mucho Tempo bands set the place on fire with their energetic performances by both the frontline singers as well as the musicians.
The audience, which included men, women and children seemed dazzled by the great performances and could be seen singing Parang tunes verbatim.
Other acts for the night included performances by Damian Joseph, Conrad 'De Illest' Bonnell who did a collaboration with Allison Hinds, Ferdinand Smith, and the energetic 'Rono Man' hailing from Paramin.
Unfortunately for some performers, all activity had to end promptly at 2a.m. and they were thus unable to perform. The crowd expressed their disappointment and begged the police to extend the time. This was not to be, however, and the large crowd immediately vacated the premises to face heavy traffic down the narrow Paramin road.
It is quite a wonder seeing so many Parang lovers maintaining the tradition of going to Paramin to hear the music. It is also obvious that the strong love for this type of music is underestimated by many. Next year, without a doubt, the Paramin Parang Festival would bring thousands more into the Paramin area.
Paramin Parang Festival 2006 video clips:
http://triniview.com/videos/Paramin_181206.html
Paramin Parang Festival 2006 in pictures:
www.triniview.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=86161
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