We’ve just returned from carnival in Trinidad. It was intense. The first days away were spent visiting pan yards and restaurants before the Port of Spain gave itself over completely to street food and carnival competitions. In the end, time ran out and Monday morning’s masquerade called jouvert found us bleary eyed but enthralled by its night devils, and the muddy throng who came out to play. Earth This is not my first carnival, I’ve seen enough parades and costumed revelers to discriminate between the tinsel spectacles created to titillate and those designed with artistry. Certainly, Bryan McFarlane’s band Earth: Cries of Despair Wings of Hope deserved to win. Hundreds of his players, divided into sections representing the environment, its challenges and triumphs, were decked in a range of costumes, each upstaging the next in fabrics, colour, concepts and maneuverability. It was a production that only Peter Minshal might have bested. Meanwhile, McFarlane’s competitors favored the usual fare of feathers and skimpy, glitzy wear that seemed like an excuse to ‘jump’ and ‘wine’ rather than make significant cultural statements. Just Tinsel? Perhaps, I’m being judgmental and too prudish to expect more from this historical event originally celebrating the Greek wine god Bacchus, hedonism and pre-Lenten feasting. But if you had to make a choice, which would you prefer?