Soca, bagpipes, gun drills, and fireworks. All were part of the Military Tattoos Road show. More than 600 people, spanning all age groups, flocked to the Scarborough Esplanade on Sunday afternoon to watch the military personnel display their skills. From as far away as England, they came to Tobago to mark the 50th anniversary of our Independence.
The Military Tattoos, under the banner “Conquerabia Spear and Drum,”
kept the crowd entertained as they watched different military marching bands, gun drills and tactics, and listened to various musical instrumentals. “Conquerabia Spear and Drum” represented a musical journey chronicling the move from conflict to peace and from many peoples to one people.
The road show included presentations by the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service Band, who performed Benjai’s “People’s Champion” on their drums, trombones, and other instruments. The Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service Music Band, Her Majesty Royal Marine of Plymouth, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Band, the Trinidad and Tobago Cadet Force, and the Canadian Armed Services Pipes and Drum band also wowed audience members with their musical display.
The national bands performed popular soca songs, while the sound of bagpipes was amplified as the Canadian Armed Services Pipes and Drum band, dressed in plaid kilts, performed while marching down Milford Road. The United States Army Drill Display Team showed top-notch skill as their guns were thrown into the air and spun over one members head like a helicopter propeller.
Spectators danced along as the show officially closed to the sharp rhythm of the steel pan from the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service Steel Orchestra. “It was a good show,” Junah Elder-Ross said, before the crowd was treated to a colourful fireworks display.
The Tobago House of Assembly hosted the weekend’s road show that kicked off at the Cyd Gray Sporting Complex in Roxborough on Saturday with a parade and gun display and continued at the Scarborough Esplanade on Sunday. The event was the joint effort of the Assembly and the Ministry of National Security.