Ramsey-Moore vows to defend steelpan amid financial strain

Pan Trinbago president Beverly Ramsey-Moore delivers an address at the 2026 Panorama Single Pan finals held at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on November 29. - Photo by Lincoln Holder

PRESIDENT of Pan Trinbago Beverly Ramsey-Moore has vowed to fight fearlessly to protect the steelpan and the legacy of the nation’s “pancestors,” even as Panorama 2026 confronts one of its most serious financial crises in decades.

Her declaration came on November 29 at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, just before the start of the single pan finals—the first national Panorama final of the 2026 season—held despite significant economic setbacks, including the withdrawal of government support for Pan Trinbago and the sudden loss of sponsorship for five steelbands in three months.

Only days earlier, state-owned Heritage Petroleum pulled its sponsorship from Skiffle and Siparia Deltones, following NGC’s withdrawal a few months prior. The move has left several bands scrambling to prepare for the small, medium, and large band Panorama categories.

Participating in Panorama has always been demanding financially, a burden intensified this year as cultural allocations shrink. For many community-based bands, sponsorship is not a bonus but a necessity—a loss that threatens not just their ability to compete, but in some cases, their very survival.

Yet, as Ramsey-Moore emphasised, these same bands serve a vital social purpose as young people now make up the majority of players, finding in pan a source of discipline, unity, and direction.

“Pan keeps our youths in line and out of trouble. When you invest in pan, you invest in our future,” she said.

Before the small but loyal audience gathered at the Grand Stand, she delivered a message of defiance and resilience.

“Pan is spirit and pan will never die,” she said. “We are an organisation of resistance. Nothing would shake us. Despite the challenges our bands are facing… We shall overcome.”

The single pan finals pushed ahead, rolling into the early hours of November 30. Of the 48 bands that auditioned - the highest number in recent years - 25 secured places in the finals. Defending champions San Juan East Side Symphony again proved unbeatable, capturing their ninth Single Pan title and the unchanged first prize of $275,000.

“This is a celebration of who we are,” Ramsey-Moore reminded the audience. “A legacy built with fire, forged with courage, and sustained through generations.”

She invoked the steelpan’s humble beginnings, crafted from discarded oil drums by resourceful pioneers who created the world’s only musical instrument invented in the 20th century.

“We will not let that vision die,” she declared. “The steelpan is a living monument of resilience, creativity, and community. It is ours to protect and pass forward.”

“We honour the visionaries, rebels, craftsmen, and dreamers who carved a national instrument out of discarded oil drums. We celebrate the arrangers, tuners, drillmasters, captains, and players who carry this artform into the future… It is the instrument of our unity, our culture, and our national pride.”

With financial pressure mounting, although prize money remains untouched for the single pan finals, she appealed directly to the corporate sector to sustain the artform as panorama preparations continue.

“Pan is community. Pan is spirit. I ask all corporate TT to get involved. Support a steelband in your community. Invest in our heritage.”

She noted that Panorama began in 1963 and, 63 years later, “still beats at the heart of who we are. It connects every region, every generation, and every Trinbagonian.

“One love. One country. One rhythm. One steelpan. So let the music begin. The legacy is ours to love—and ours to cherish.”

NCC chairman Peter Kanhai speaks at the 2026 Panorama Single Pan finals held at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on November 29. - Photo by Lincoln Holder

In his address, chairman of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) Peter Kanhai, reaffirmed NCC’s commitment to safeguarding the steelpan as a core pillar of carnival.

“Legacy is not merely memory. It is our responsibility, one we must wholeheartedly embrace as we raise the steelpan, the pan-man and the pan-woman to a higher place.”

He praised Pan Trinbago and the finalists for keeping the single pan category—small in size but “big in talent and heart”—vibrant within the carnival calendar.

Linking his remarks to next year’s Carnival theme, Yuh Go Love Dis, he said the steelpan remains one of the strongest reasons TT’s festival captivates the world.

“There are many elements that make our carnival so loved, but with neither exception nor doubt, our steelpan is one of the most powerful. When we say, ‘Yuh Go Love Dis,’ we are telling the world we have the best of the best.”