Trinidad and Tobago is famous for the splendor of its carnival celebrations. People come from all over the world to share in the fun and experience our culture. Our carnival is famous for many things including the foundation of the festival Calypso and Steel Band music. Then we added Soca, Chutney Soca and so many other unique cultural attributes.
Today, the post takes a look back at one aspect of our Carnival celebration that goes unnoticed and is very much unappreciated by the populace. From a time gone by our African brothers brought the art of Stick Fighting to our shores. Kalinda songs, Kalinda drumming and the art of Stick Fighting go hand in hand. For this post, we are pleased to feature the finals of the Stick Fighting competition compliments of bmobile.
The action is driven by Chantwells singing Lavways with the call of the drums encouraging singing in traditional call and response fashion as the action heats up. Gayelles celebrate and cheer on their fighters bringing added excitement to the event. The fighters are serious and go into the ring to win. Sometimes tempers flair but most of the time the vanquished fighter is celebrated by the winner. It is competitive but the Gayelles respect the art and the combatants.
Here are the results for the National Stick Fighting Competition for Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2019. The show took place at the Arima Velodrome on Wednesday February 27, 2019. This competition was hosted by the National Carnival Commission (NCC) of Trinidad and Tobago.
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After all was said and done, after the sticks were used to share blows, we had winners! The winner of the King of the Rock and the Champion Gayelle are posted below:
- Winner/King of the Rock: Roger Sambury aka "Dog"
- Winner/National Stick Fighting Champion Gayelle: Princess Town Gayelle