Web Posted - Monday July 20, 2026
SocaNews

Pantonic Steel Orchestra Launches Appeal to Find New Panyard Home

Pantonic Steel Orchestra hoping to raise funds for their return to Notting Hill Carnival

England, U.K. - Pantonic Steel Orchestra has launched an urgent campaign to secure a new permanent panyard, calling on supporters and the wider community to help find a suitable space for rehearsals, workshops and the storage of instruments.

The Hackney-based steel orchestra, established in 1988, has been a cornerstone of the UK’s steelpan movement for nearly four decades.

....The band says finding a long-term home is vital to ensuring its continued growth and safeguarding its contribution to the community.
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Web Posted - Sunday July 19, 2026
The British Blacklist

Out Of The Caribbean: 75 Years of the Steel pan

From the Streets of Trinidad to the World Stage

England, U.K. - Next week, Trinidad and Tobago celebrates the 75th anniversary of the steelpan, a landmark that honours not only the evolution of a musical instrument but also the ingenuity, resilience and cultural identity of a people.

....the Festival of Britain, staged to mark the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, as an opportunity to demonstrate the legitimacy of pan on the largest stage available.

Players including Betancourt, Winston “Spree” Simon and Anthony Williams were drawn from bands that had spent years as rivals and moulded into an orchestra by Barbadian bandleader Lieutenant Joseph Griffith, whose own career had taken him through St Vincent, Grenada and Martinique.

On 6 July 1951, they sailed from Port of Spain aboard a banana boat, arriving in London via Bordeaux and Paris, their pans rusted by the sea air. When the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra took to the stage on London’s South Bank on 26 July, the audience’s first reaction was one of polite disbelief that these battered oil drums could produce music at all.
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Web Posted - Saturday July 18, 2026
When Steel Talks

Grenada’s Angel Harps Juniors and Seniors ready for Panorama 2026 - Increased Prizes for this year’s competition

Grenada, W.I. - Grenada’s Republic Bank Angel Harps’ music organization is ready for the upcoming Junior Panorama on Saturday, July 25^th at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in St. George’s, says executive member David Seales.

....Two weeks later on August 8^th the annual National Panorama will see the senior Angel Harps Steel Orchestra performing Mr. Gold’N’s “Down in Greenz” arranged by Gerry Tamar and Orlando Thomas.
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Web Posted - Tuesday July 14, 2026
Sunday Tribune

2026 Education Africa International Marimba & Steelpan Festival to celebrate young musicians

Boys from Michaelhouse School during a marimba performance

Johannesburg, South Africa - More than 2,300 young musicians from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Lesotho will converge on St Dominic's Catholic School for Girls in Johannesburg for the 2026 Education Africa International Marimba & Steelpan Festival, recognised as the largest event of its kind in the world.

The three-day festival, taking place from July 24 to 26, will bring together learners, educators and professional musicians for performances, competitions, workshops and collaborative learning experiences celebrating music, cultural diversity and youth development.

....Participants will represent schools and community organisations from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape, alongside international groups from neighbouring African countries.

....Over the course of the festival, audiences can expect hundreds of performances by school and community marimba ensembles, steelpan bands and special guest performers.
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Web Posted -- Monday July 13, 2026
When Steel Talks

 Saint Lucia National Panorama 2026 Results - Ninth Championship for Babonneau Steel Orchestra, Champion Arranger Allison Marquis

Babonneau Steel Orchestra’s champion arranger Allison Marquis, in white, wearing glasses - presented with trophy and check for his band

Castries, Saint Lucia, W.I. - Babonneau Steel Orchestra tasted triumph once again as they emerged 2026 National Panorama champions for a ninth time. Allison Marquis, the band’s resident champion arranger brought out the best for the night in the judges’ opinion with his vision and the steel orchestra’s performance of the favored classic Hilary {Riding West} by Rootsy.

....In  the solo spotlight, also relegated to the second spot this year was last year’s winner, Jesse Nurse. In fact it was newcomer to the competition Chazzi Desrivieres who took home the trophy and top prize of EC $2,500 (circa US $925).
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Web Posted - Sunday July 12, 2026
When Steel Talks

Saint Lucia National Panorama 2026 - Live Stream

Saint Lucia, W.I. - The 2026 Saint Lucia National Steelband Panorama competition is on Sunday July 12 at The SAB, Vigie, in Castries. Five steel orchestras will compete for the title of Panorama champion.
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Web Posted - Thursday July 9, 2026
When Steel Talks

The Anatomy of Panorama 2026 - Quick Chart - Order of Appearance: Saint Lucia National Panorama Steelband Music Competition

Bands - Tunes - Arrangers

Saint Lucia, W.I. - There are five steel orchestras vying for the country’s 2026 National Panorama championship on Sunday July 12 in the annual steelband music competition, part of the carnival events calendar.

Defending its title from position four is Pantime Steel Orchestra. This year, the entry of new band Dennery Steel Orchestra ups the number of competitors from four last year to five this time around.
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Web Posted
When Steel Talks

2026 Trinidad and Tobago National Steelband Panorama Info - Complete

Global - PanOnTheNet/ WhenSteelTalks is Panorama Central! Complete information on the 2026 season of the Trinidad and Tobago National Panorama, and competitions:  Schedules, Orders of Appearance for preliminary, semi-final and final phases for large, medium and small conventional steel orchestras, and single pan bands; arrangers’ bios, bios of steel orchestras; full results, panyard addresses, history of previous Panoramas, and much more!
see complete information index

When Steel Talks

Facebook got it wrong - Meta World and WST & SteelPan Are Friends Again

Facebook “Likes” sends PanOnTheNet Apology - “We got it wrong”

Metaverse - Facebook got it wrong. About three years ago without warning or reason all WST (When Steel Talks) steelpan-related accounts fell out of favor with the social media giant Facebook now known as Meta and its aligned consortiums (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). Because WST has all of our material hosted on our own shared servers, this ‘tag’ was not incurable or as problematic as it could have been. However, it was annoying to have people seeking critical steelpan music info diverted by Facebook AI (artificial intelligence).
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Web Posted
When Steel Talks

Technology Giant “Google” Celebrates the steelpan instrument via Google Doodle

Celebrating Steelpan - Illustration by artist Nicholas Huggins

Doodle of steelpan instrument ‘live’ on Google’s web site

Global - On Tuesday July 26, 2022 the steelpan instrument of Trinidad and Tobago is featured and celebrated on the site of technology giant “Google” via the famed Google ‘Doodle.’ The ‘Doodle’ is essentially an illustrative change made to the Google corporate logo “to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists” - and more. The doodle is then seen by users all around the world who access Google’s homepage on that day, and is available thereafter in the doodle archives.

....Trinidad and Tobago-based artist Nicholas Huggins is the creator of the illustrative artwork featured in the doodle, while Etienne Charles is the composer of the accompanying music performed by the legendary steelpan icon Len “Boogsie” Sharpe.
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