The declaration by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to designate
August 11 th as World Steel Pan Day is a welcomed development that will give
further impetus to the development of the art form for many years to come.
That is the assessment of the President of the Antigua and Barbuda Pan
Association, Patrick ‘Stone’ Johnson. He said the move by the UN came after
many years of lobbying, particularly by a group out of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to Johnson, the UNGA vote came in July this year, and when the
information was communicated to the Steel Pan Association, its membership was
engaged in preparation for the 2023 Panorama, the first since 2019.
“Unfortunately, our full thrust and energy was concentrated on Panorama, so we
had to wait until after carnival to begin planning an activity to commemorate the
day. Nonetheless, we are quite happy and elated that the steel pan was getting its
just recognition by a body such as the UNGA,” he stated.
He added that he sees the celebration not just for steel pan today, but it is a
celebration for the early pioneers of steel pan dating back to the mid-1940s when
Antigua already had steel bands, one of the first countries to do so outside of
Trinidad and Tobago.
“Antigua and Barbuda has a rich history in steel pan dating back to the 1940s. We
have one of the oldest steel bands in the world, Hell’s Gate Steel Band which
started in 1945. This country, therefore, has a history of being at the forefront of
the development from the steel band movement and one which we ought to
cherish,” Johnson remarked.
Public Relations Officer of the Pan Association, Robin Margetson, said he is quite
“elated” that the steel pan is now being internationally and officially recognized by
an entity such as the UNGA.
“I am particularly pleased that people felt the urge to celebrate this in a special
way, and I am also happy that we were able to do something here in Antigua and
Barbuda to mark the occasion. We were determined not to be left out although we
had very little time to plan an event. But this World Steel Pan Day has the potential
to become something really big that is marked on the calendar each year,” he
noted.
Last Friday, the association held a two-hour concert in St John’s as its way of
marking the occasion.
