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Un­der the blis­ter­ing mid­day sun at Skin­ner Park, San Fer­nan­do, ca­lyp­so lovers sent a clear and de­fi­ant mes­sage yes­ter­day that pi­cong, po­lit­i­cal com­men­tary and fear­less so­cial crit­i­cism were the lifeblood of the art form, say­ing any at­tempt to si­lence them is an at­tack on free­dom of ex­pres­sion.

Ca­lyp­so Fi­es­ta kicked off around 2 pm, and hun­dreds of kaiso lovers came in­to the park, not just with cool­ers, hats, and fold­ing chairs, but some al­so with plac­ards con­demn­ing what they called at­tacks on the art form.

Among them were mem­bers of the St Mar­garet’s posse who danced with their plac­ards, which read: “How come Kurt Allen out? How come Queen Vic­to­ria out?”