Famed masman Peter Minshall’s band Kinetic Mas has won Overall Band of the Year.

Trinidad’s National Carnival Commission (NCC) confirmed the news after the annual Carnival Parade of the Bands ended. Minshall’s 2020 presentation Mas Pieta also won Large Band of the Year. Ronnie & Caro placed second with their presentation Cry of the Serengeti while The Lost Tribe took the third spot with Anansi.

Peter Minshall’s name has become synonymous with Trinidad Carnival, a legend who is world-renowned for his works of mas and large-scale spectacle events and performances both in Trinidad and Tobago and the world over. Minshall’s double win is more significant, considering that this is his first foray into mas after a 12-year hiatus.

Minshall described the band’s success as a “victory for the people”.

“This is a band of fireman sailors from the 1950s, the ones from the belly of the boat, where they stoke the fires that make the steam [for] the steamer across the mighty sea,” he said of Mas Pieta, which consisted of four sections or “acts”: Armageddon, Ashes to Ashes, Over the Rainbow and Le Paradis Retrouve.

Speaking on Minshall’s return to mas, Minister of Arts and Culture Nyan Gadsby-Dolly described his work as “second to none”.

K2K Alliance won Medium Band of the Year, maintaining this title since 2015. Image Nation and Exousia Mas came in second and third place, respectively.

The First Citizens Original Jab Jab won Small Band of the Year with their presentation Power of the Plants, while second and third place went to Tribal Connection Cultural Promotion and Belmont Exotic Stylish Sailors, respectively.