Panorama 2026: Legacy Monday - Ours to Love. Ours to Cherish.
Legacy After the Silence: The Steelpan’s Achievements from the Diamond Jubilee Onward
When the COVID-19 pandemic halted rehearsals, emptied panyards, and silenced stages, the steelpan movement faced one of its greatest tests. Panorama, so deeply rooted in communal gathering, shared discipline, and collective energy was forced into stillness. Yet history has shown that steelpan is not defined by interruption, but by response.
What followed was not merely a return, but a reassertion of legacy.
The Diamond Jubilee: 60 Years of Panorama (2023)
In 2023, Panorama marked its Diamond Jubilee 60 years of organised competition, musical excellence, and cultural continuity. Coming immediately after the disruption of COVID-19, the Jubilee carried a weight far beyond celebration. It was confirmation that the steelpan movement had endured its most significant modern challenge and emerged intact.
Sixty years of Panorama represent more than annual competitions. They reflect:
The formalisation of Steelband music as a disciplined orchestral art form
The evolution of arranging, tuning, and adjudication standards
The creation of structured pathways for youth development and musical literacy
The transformation of pan yards into spaces of mentorship, education, and community leadership
The Diamond Jubilee reaffirmed Panorama as the central pillar of the steelpan movement, a platform that has continuously shaped identity, excellence, and national pride.
Global Recognition: World Steelpan Day (2023)
The Diamond Jubilee year also delivered one of the most significant international milestones in the steelpan’s history.
On July 24, 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution officially recognising World Steelpan Day on August 11. This act elevated the steelpan from national treasure to globally acknowledged cultural heritage.
This recognition validated:
The steelpan as the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century
Its origins in Trinidad and Tobago
Its role in education, social transformation, and cultural diplomacy worldwide
World Steelpan Day provided global legitimacy that strengthened international academic programmes, cultural exchanges, and performance opportunities, cementing the steelpan’s place on the world stage.
Panorama 2024: Come Home to the Rhythms of Steel
Feel It! Love It! Share It!
In 2024, Panorama deliberately shifted its emotional centre. Under the theme “Come Home to the Rhythms of Steel”, with the call to Feel It! Love It! Share It!, the movement invited the nation and the diaspora to reconnect; not just with performances, but with the soul of steelpan culture.
This year marked a conscious return:
Back to the pan yards as living cultural spaces
Back to community participation and intergenerational exchange
Back to the emotional bond between the instrument and the people
Panorama 2024 emphasised belonging. It reminded players, supporters, and observers that steelpan is not only something to be consumed on a stage, but for something to be lived, felt in rehearsal, loved through discipline, and shared across communities and borders.
That same year, in July 2024, Trinidad and Tobago took a historic step by formally declaring the steelpan as the National Musical Instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. This declaration embedded the steelpan permanently into the nation’s identity, not by tradition alone, but by official recognition.
Cultural Confidence and Reclamation: Steelpan Fuh So! (2025)
In 2025, the steelpan movement stood firmly in self-belief with the declaration “Steelpan Fuh So! Unleash D Power.” The year was defined by confidence—confidence in sound, in culture, and in ownership.
This period underscored the steelpan’s role as:
A vehicle for national expression
A tool for youth empowerment and education
A contributor to the creative economy and cultural tourism
It was also a year of symbolic national correction. Legislation was passed to remove the images of Christopher Columbus’s ships from Trinidad and Tobago’s Coat of Arms, an act that resonated deeply with the steelpan movement. For an instrument born out of resistance and self-definition, this moment aligned cultural identity with historical truth.
Pan Omega
In October 2025, the steelpan again positioned itself as the lead as Tobago etched its name permanently into the steelpan story with the hosting of its first-ever Panorama, themed Pan Omega. This landmark moment signalled Tobago’s formal arrival on the Panorama stage - not as an extension of Trinidad, but as a confident cultural space within its own Carnival.
Pan Omega’s participation embodied decades of Tobagonian commitment to the steelpan, from pan yard development to performance excellence, and transformed that commitment into history. Tobago’s first Panorama was more than a competition; it was recognition, representation, and expansion, extending the reach of the national instrument and firmly embedding Tobago into the living legacy of Panorama.
Legacy in Motion
Together, these post-COVID milestones tell a coherent story. Since the Diamond Jubilee, the steelpan has:
Reaffirmed Panorama as the definitive competitive and cultural platform
Achieved global institutional recognition
Been enshrined as a national symbol by law
Replaced a symbol of colonialism with one of struggle and resistance
Added another Panorama in Tobago
Strengthened its role in education, tourism, and economic development
Reconnected communities at home and across the diaspora
Legacy, in this context, is not about remembrance alone. It is about responsibility.
Every band that rehearses today does so within a movement that is more protected, more recognised, and more respected than ever before. Every young player enters a tradition strengthened by global validation and national affirmation. Every Panorama season now unfolds against a backdrop of resilience and achievement.
Legacy Monday
Legacy Monday is the moment we acknowledge that survival was only the beginning. The steelpan returned after COVID not diminished, but refined; clear in purpose, firm in identity, and confident in its future.
Steel does not break.
It bends.
And then it rings louder.
Legacy Monday: Medium Bands Finals - Where the
Future Carries the Past
Legacy Monday is not symbolic placement on the Panorama calendar.
It is intentional.
Set on the night of the Medium Bands Finals, Legacy Monday
acknowledges that contribution.
The Medium Bands Finals: Ten Bearers of Legacy
For Panorama 2026, ten Medium Bands advance to the Finals - ten
institutions representing decades of discipline, musical identity, and
community commitment. Each brings a distinct sound, history, and philosophy to
the stage, yet all are united by purpose.
The finalists are:
- Pan
Elders - A band synonymous with consistency,
discipline, and historic achievement, representing excellence sustained
across generations.
- Courts
Sound Specialists - Known for innovation and precision,
continuing a tradition of competitive relevance.
- Pamberi
Steel Orchestra – A band rooted in cultural expression and creative
interpretation.
- Arima
Angel Harps – A powerhouse with a proud legacy of musical
leadership and youth development.
- Steel
Xplosion – A modern force blending energy, technical
clarity, and contemporary drive.
- Couva
Joylanders – Renowned for structure, musical balance,
and competitive longevity.
- Curepe
Scherzando – A band with deep roots in musical
discipline and orchestral refinement.
- Dixieland
Steel Orchestra – One of the movement’s historic names,
carrying tradition with pride and purpose.
- Sangre
Grande Cordettes – A strong regional presence, reflecting
commitment to development beyond urban centres.
- Sforzata
Steel Orchestra – Internationally respected, academically
grounded, and a symbol of steelpan’s global reach.
Legacy as Responsibility, Not Memory
Legacy Monday reframes how we understand success in Panorama. It is not
only about trophies or placements. It is about:
- Maintaining
standards in rehearsal and performance
- Preserving
musical integrity while encouraging innovation
- Passing
knowledge from elders to youth
- Representing
communities with pride and accountability
Medium Bands embody this balance. They are large enough to command
presence, yet close enough to remain grounded in community. They are the proof
that sustainability in steelpan is built through consistency, not spectacle
alone.
A Night That Matters
On Legacy Monday, every note played by these ten bands carries more than
competition weight. It carries responsibility - to history, to community, and
to the future of the movement.
This is Panorama in its 63rd year - not surviving, but standing firmly
in its power.
This is Legacy Monday.
Where the past is honoured, the present is tested, and the future is shaped.
Ours to Love. Ours to Cherish.
No comments:
Post a Comment