Once a Trini reach in yuh Fete is Nicencess! Examining Fetes as the driver for carnival innovation, through an analysis of its aesthetic and non-aesth

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The Trinidad Carnival and Trinidad-style carnivals remain a popular festival attracting thousandsto millions of participants. According to Trinidad's Central Statistical Office, with a population ofabout 1.4 million people, the festival continues to attract close to 40,000 visitors each year. Boththe Notting Hill carnival and the Toronto Caribbean Carnival attract an estimated 1 million peopleeach. As Nurse puts it, it is arguably "the most replicated carnival in the globe, with replicas indiaspora communities like New York, London, Toronto and Leeds" (Nurse, 2004 p.246). Fordecades, carnival in Trinidad and Tobago was defined as built around three pillars: Calypso,Steelpan and the Masquerade. As a result of this, the government agency in Trinidad responsiblefor carnival, the National Carnival Commission, grants a subsidy to the organisationsrepresenting those three entities each carnival. Fetes in the carnival are the party events thattake place throughout the entire carnival season usually starting just after Christmas andculminating before Ash Wednesday. For Trinidad style carnivals, fetes take on a variety offormats, such as a boat cruise or a "cooler" fete, i.e. bring your own booze. They are typicallyheld outdoors and would include the main stage for any performances from an artist or DJ, adance space, bar and food areas, as well as for any other activities. It can be argued that theyare currently the festival's most popular element in recent times, growing into a sub-industry andthe larger carnival culture. It is, however, a sector that is often overlooked by the practitionersand researchers of the other pillars as some view it as only commercial ventures thatdiminishes the historical and traditional aspects of our carnival. In its quest to beground-breaking, the research proposed will investigate fetes for consideration as the fourthpillar of carnival, in both industry and performance, generating meanings for its participantsand the carnival culture of Trinidad and Tobago. The examination of the fete as an industrywill investigate the industrial organisation of its positioning as carnival's fourth pillar, officiallyor unofficially, and the implications for carnival's three traditional pillars. Exploration of the"performance of the fete" will focus on the aesthetics of its setting, artistry and representation2in person and on digital and social media. It will also examine how this space has andcontinues to be a site for resistance and socio-political tension. The overall aim is toinvestigate beyond assumptions of its commercial success, the significance of how and whythis sector is transforming our carnival landscape, and what learning lessons, good or bad,can be used to bring positive change to the entire festival globally. Moreso, in the absenceof festivals and places that allow this form of play, due to the COVID pandemic, the value ofsuch events in society is important to assess.