The Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah came alive yes­ter­day as waves of steel­pan mu­sic rolled across the stage, rhythm sec­tions puls­ing and draw­ing crowds of pan lovers who swayed, smiled and soaked in the Car­ni­val en­er­gy.

From the deep rum­ble of bass pans to the bright, ring­ing melodies cut­ting through the air, the se­mi-fi­nals com­pe­ti­tion proved once again that the heart­beat of Trinidad and To­ba­go still echoes through steel.

Amid the vi­brant at­mos­phere and watch­ful eyes of the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice, led by Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er (CoP) Al­lis­ter Gue­var­ro, Pan Trin­ba­go Pres­i­dent Bev­er­ley Ram­sey-Moore ac­knowl­edged the strong turnout and high mu­si­cal qual­i­ty on dis­play, but al­so used the oc­ca­sion to high­light grow­ing con­cerns over dwin­dling cor­po­rate spon­sor­ship for steel­bands.