The Department of Culture within the Ministry of Creative Industries will host a comprehensive Soca and Calypso Adjudicators' Training Workshop on Saturday, 20th June, 2026.
The workshop will be held at the Harrison Centre, Antigua and Barbuda College of Advanced Studies, from 9am to 3pm. It forms part of the department's ongoing commitment to strengthen the integrity, professionalism, and credibility of Antigua and Barbuda's Carnival competitions.
Current and prospective adjudicators responsible for evaluating performances in the Soca Monarch, Party Monarch, and Calypso Monarch contests will receive practical instruction in scoring methodologies, rubric application, performance analysis, and bias awareness.
Cultural practitioner and adjudication specialist Kimdale Mackellar will facilitate the training. Key areas of assessment to be examined include lyrics, musical composition, originality, stage presentation, audience engagement, communication, and overall performance quality.
The workshop will employ an interactive, hands-on approach featuring group discussions, mock adjudication exercises, calibration activities, audio and video analysis, score comparison exercises, and guided feedback sessions.
As Carnival competitions continue to evolve and attract increased public interest, the Department recognises the importance of ensuring that adjudicators possess a thorough understanding of official judging criteria and are equipped to apply them fairly, consistently, and transparently.
Interested individuals can contact the Department of Culture at 562-9606 for additional information regarding participation in the workshop.
