As­sis­tant Sec­re­tary in the Di­vi­sion of Tourism, Cul­ture, An­tiq­ui­ties and Trans­porta­tion, Niall George, has called on To­bag­o­ni­ans to do their part to keep ca­lyp­so alive as the is­land starts its cel­e­bra­tions for Ca­lyp­so His­to­ry Month.

Speak­ing at the launch of the cel­e­bra­tions at the Scar­bor­ough Li­brary on Tues­day night, George said ca­lyp­so must be pro­tect­ed and passed on to the next gen­er­a­tion.

“Ca­lyp­so is not sim­ply mu­sic. It is his­to­ry sung in rhyme and rhythm,” he said.

“Over the years, ca­lyp­so evolved in­to a proud art form that has shaped our na­tion­al iden­ti­ty.”

He said ca­lyp­so was part of the na­tion’s soul and should nev­er be al­lowed to fade.

“Each verse, each cho­rus, each dou­ble en­ten­dre car­ries with­in it a piece of our soul,” he said.

“And tonight here in To­ba­go, we reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to en­sur­ing that this soul con­tin­ues to live and breathe through the next gen­er­a­tion.”

George said the month-long cel­e­bra­tion, themed Ca­lyp­so: Her­itage in Har­mo­ny, Em­pow­er­ing To­ba­go Voic­es, was more than just a cul­tur­al event.

“This Ca­lyp­so His­to­ry Month is more than a cel­e­bra­tion. It is an ed­u­ca­tion, a preser­va­tion, and a trib­ute,” he said.

He added that sev­er­al To­ba­go ca­lyp­so­ni­ans were be­ing ho­n­oured for their work in keep­ing the art form alive.

“We are proud to ho­n­our ten of To­ba­go’s vet­er­an ca­lyp­so­ni­ans, men and women who have ded­i­cat­ed their lives to the art and whose voic­es have echoed from Crown Point to Char­lot­teville, from small com­mu­ni­ty tents to na­tion­al stages,” he said.

George said the di­vi­sion, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Trin­ba­go Uni­fied Ca­lyp­so­ni­ans’ Or­gan­i­sa­tion (TU­CO), planned sev­er­al ac­tiv­i­ties to reach both the young and old.

“Through ex­hi­bi­tions, school tours, Ca­lyp­so Yard per­for­mances, and pub­lic dis­plays, we aim to ed­u­cate, in­spire, and re­mind every­one that ca­lyp­so is not just a sound of the past. It is the voice of the present and the rhythm of the fu­ture,” he said.

He asked To­bag­o­ni­ans to teach their chil­dren about ca­lyp­so and its pow­er to ex­press truth and emo­tion.

“We must teach our young peo­ple about the pow­er of Ca­lyp­so—about its abil­i­ty to tell truth through melody, to make the com­plex un­der­stand­able, to up­lift the spir­it even in the midst of strug­gle,” he said.

Al­so speak­ing at the event was TU­CO To­ba­go sec­re­tary Ken­neth Thomas, who praised the ho­n­ourees for their com­mit­ment to the art form.

He said, “Some­times it’s not an easy road, but it’s a road that ca­lyp­so­ni­ans are pre­pared to walk—to be re­silient, to en­sure that our sto­ries are told.”

Thomas al­so thanked the di­vi­sion for work­ing with TU­CO to host the cel­e­bra­tion.

Sev­er­al To­ba­go ca­lyp­so­ni­ans were pre­sent­ed with awards for their con­tri­bu­tion to ca­lyp­so and its de­vel­op­ment on the is­land.

The event marked the start of a month of ac­tiv­i­ties to ho­n­our the is­land’s ca­lyp­so pi­o­neers and en­cour­age young peo­ple to con­tin­ue the tra­di­tion.