On Friday, July 21st, THE LOST TRIBE will launch its Carnival 2024 presentation, “Fly”, at Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook. The 2023 Large Band of the Year winner will reveal its costumes at the end of the Sunset Theatre, a theatrical and cultural street parade that marks the start of SunsetWKN, the TRIBE Group’s launch of Carnival 2024.

According to THE LOST TRIBE’s band leader and Creative Director, Valmiki Maharaj, this year was the perfect opportunity to try a new approach to launching the band.
“This year we’re celebrating twenty years of TRIBE, twenty years of innovation in the Carnival industry and so, as part of that, THE LOST TRIBE wanted to launch as we never have before – on the street, free to the public, an immersive experience in the Band Launch Capital, during a time that has become known as the band launch season of Trinidad and Tobago.”

Sunset Theatre, which precedes the launch of THE LOST TRIBE’s costumes, is also free to the public and starts at Ana Street at 7 pm.

The event, which debuted in 2022 in the inaugural SunsetWKN, drew throngs of spectators to Ariapita Avenue, with performances staged at various corners along the avenue, celebrating each of Trinidad and Tobago’s myriad of cultural influences.

For Maharaj, it is a fitting juxtaposition of the two brands. He said, “Sunset Theatre is a very LOST TRIBE-infused product from the TRIBE Group. Last year we introduced the concept to resoundingly positive feedback from the public, many of whom came with their families to enjoy the show. Sunset Theatre celebrates our culture in the way that THE LOST TRIBE seeks to celebrate those aspects of Trinbagonian identity through mas. Many of our dancers and performers also work with us on the road for Carnival, so really, this is like a reunion and a precursor to the road. We’re very fortunate to have the support of our corporate partner CARIB Brewery, and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, who understood the vision and enabled us to execute it again this year,” he said.

Sunset Theatre concludes at Adam Smith Square at 8 pm, after which THE LOST TRIBE’s 2024 costumes will take flight. The theme for 2024, “Fly” is inspired by the winged fauna of Trinidad and Tobago, both literally and figuratively.

Maharaj said, “After 202WE, when we fashioned our costumes after affirmations and our vision for the future, we figured it was time to shake off the heaviness of the last few years and take to the sky. If there is one thing you can count on our masqueraders to do is embody a theme, so I am looking forward to seeing the lightness of being that comes with playing mas, the euphoria of the road stretched in front of you, and the very real joy we feel in finding our flock. “Fly” is also dedicated to TRIBE and their twenty years of making room for us to spread our wings and explore all the corners of this world we call Carnival.”