THE steel pan has grown to become an integral part of the Guyanese culture especially during the season of Mashramani. Every year, the Republic Bank Panorama competition gets bigger and bigger support as more persons are gravitating to that form of musical rendition.

Last year, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall where the competition is usually held, could not have contained the mammoth crowd that descended on the event.
This year already appears to be yet another massive turnout, as the launch programme on Sunday at the Seawall Bandstand saw the attendance of droves of people.

Men, women and children of all ages came out in their numbers with their chairs and blankets to enjoy the presentations from the various bands.

Heating up the chilly afternoon, the bands delivered pleasingly, as fans could have been seen grooving to the sounds of the music. So enticing were these performances that even after it started to rain, the crowd was immovable. The people stayed through to enjoy all the performances.

Even though it was just the launch and the performances were that of a ‘friendly,’ it felt like competitive performances as each band played to outdo the previous performer.

The highlight of the night however, was the Guyana Police Force Band, who are the defending champions. The police officers came out uniformed in their all-black attire, and played for nearly 40 minutes, showing off their versatility by playing music from way back in 1980s to music from this era. They had the crowd dancing and grooving to every note hit.

Another crowd favourite was the Caribbean Airlines Parkside Steel Orchestra, who came out uniformed in their all-white attire and swayed the crowd. Last year they secured second place.

From what transpired on Sunday, the people are already anticipating this year’s competition. This year however, due to the large support, there are two dates for the competition. February 13th at the Theatre Guild, the Pan Minors will have their competition, and on Feb 16th the large bands will take over the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall for their competition.