KRISTY RAM­NAR­INE

Kristy.ram­nar­ine@cnc3.co.tt

John Thomas’ Be­lieve: Christ­mas Around the World, is on for an eighth year. The East­ern Chorale mu­si­cal di­rec­tor said all pro­ceeds from the event will go to the He­roes Foun­da­tion.

Be­lieve, a cel­e­bra­tion of the rich cul­tur­al ta­pes­try of T&T, takes place at Na­pari­ma Bowl, San Fer­nan­do, on De­cem­ber 15 and 17, and Queen’s Hall, Port-of-Spain, on De­cem­ber 22 and 23.

“The He­roes Foun­da­tion, re­cent­ly ho­n­oured with the Na­tion­al Youth Award for Out­stand­ing Youth Group, is ded­i­cat­ed to em­pow­er­ing chil­dren, help­ing them find the hero with­in to over­come life’s chal­lenges, and fos­ter­ing pos­i­tive change in homes, schools, and com­mu­ni­ties,” Thomas ex­plained.

“Through pro­grammes like the He­roes De­vel­op­ment Pro­gramme and Big Broth­ers Big Sis­ters men­tor­ship, they have im­pact­ed over 400 young lives and en­gaged a stag­ger­ing 775,000 peo­ple in youth-led be­hav­iour change projects.

“By at­tend­ing Be­lieve, you not on­ly en­joy a spec­tac­u­lar per­for­mance but al­so con­tribute to the no­ble cause of child and youth de­vel­op­ment.”

Thomas, the dri­ving force be­hind the event, pas­sion­ate­ly be­lieves in its pow­er to show­case the na­tion’s tal­ent on a glob­al stage.

“This metic­u­lous­ly craft­ed event not on­ly en­ter­tains but al­so el­e­vates Trinidad and To­ba­go’s vis­i­bil­i­ty, res­o­nance, and promi­nence,” he said.

“As the con­cert en­ters its eighth year, it has be­come a home­com­ing for the di­as­po­ra, re­unit­ing with fam­i­ly and friends dur­ing this cher­ished sea­son. Be­lieve has evolved in­to a re­flec­tion of Trinidad and To­ba­go’s mul­ti-tal­ent­ed spir­it, blend­ing lo­cal au­then­tic­i­ty with in­ter­na­tion­al ap­peal. This year’s per­for­mances promise to breathe life in­to the time­less mes­sage of the Christ­mas sea­son—hope, grace, and good­will.”

Fea­tur­ing 24 acts span­ning var­i­ous gen­res, from jazz to gospel, R&B to pop, from var­i­ous cul­tures, lan­guages and tra­di­tions, Be­lieve: Christ­mas Around the World promis­es to be a mu­si­cal jour­ney that tran­scends bound­aries.

The gala night will fea­ture gospel sen­sa­tions Can­dice Caton, The St Hi­laire Broth­ers, Cur­tis Jor­dan, Alyssa Joseph, Ma­halia Pierre, Vic­to­ria Grif­fith, Farouk Jr, Justin Zephyrine, Naki­ta Gads­by and Heather Dick­son. The stel­lar line-up al­so in­cludes vi­o­lin­ist Inge Schluer, ac­tress Ce­cila Salazar, 2022 Ca­lyp­so Monarch Tazya O’ Con­nor, Rose, Tri­cia Lee Kelshall, Char­lie Grif­fith, Chut­ney So­ca Monarch Katelin Sul­tan, the first la­dy of parang Ali­cia Jag­gasar, along with Los Alum­nos De San Juan, the Kar­line Brath­waite Dance Com­pa­ny, the St Joseph’s Con­vent Choir (PoS) and The East­ern Chorale.