About the Band

Having played King of Carnival for several years from 1983 to 1989 for several leading Mas bands including among them – the late Mac Williams, Harts, Neville Aming and Barbarossa - and also playing the Individual ' Sparrow' for Peter Minshall, Gerard Kelly sought a change. With years of experience behind him and the Carnival blood flowing in his veins, Kelly opted to go into Kiddies' Mas.

Out of 237 Western Main Road, Cocorite, Trinidad, Gerard Kelly Children's Carnival sprung forth with their first production in 2000 "Water, Water Everywhere". With a small number of young masqueraders, Kelly copped First Place in the Small Band Category. The rest is now history. Kelly has had continued success through the years, with the Band growing to Medium strength and continuing with productions such as:

Kelly's tenth year (2009), was in tribute to his mother, Irene Lispier (now deceased). His mother was largely responsible for Kelly's interest in Carnival, for it was the two of them who would attend many of the pre-season competitions leading up to the Big Night in the Savannah. Shades of White in his tribute, he says "was a cleansing for the nation and our young leaders of tomorrow".

Gerard Kelly Children's Carnival Band  is a totally fun-inspired Band. Fully and exclusively designed with the kids in mind, among the attractions of this Band is its own "Big Truck" powered by Studio Guyz - long standing masters in the music business. Another favourite with the parents is the fact that young masqueraders get a taste of the all- inclusiveness that has now become synonymous with Trinidad Carnival!! Yes, it is, and remains the ONLY all inclusive Kiddies' Band on the road. With its own 'drinks truck', the Band moves fully loaded for the street parades with treats and goodies, all with children in mind.

Gerard Kelly has a soft spot for kids and tries to ensure that the less fortunate among us also get a taste of our national festival. From inception in 2000, Kelly has sponsored a section for kids at various Homes and Institutions. Starting with the Christ Child Convalescent Home, he extended the offer to the boys of St Michael's School for Boys and also to the girls of St Jude's Home for Girls.

For 2010, Kelly decided to partner with the Just Because Foundation in the drive to help kids afflicted with cancer. At the launch of his 2K10 presentation in September '09, proceeds collected for admission at the door were donated to this organisation which was founded by the husband and wife team of Chevaughn and Noel Joseph.

Kelly is guided by everyday reflections of life along with inspiration and advice from some of the kids when choosing his portrayals. In all his efforts, Kelly has managed to strike a balance between beauty, comfort and enjoyment for the kids, making him the favourite "Uncle Gerard" for many of them.

Gerard Kelly's children have entertained at several major events and have made appearances on the stage of the International Soca Monarch Competition, performing backup for one of our local entertainers; at a World Cup Qualifier at the National Stadium; a function held in honour of the Vice President of China, while some of his costumes have also been showcased at the Carnival Institute's Launch of Carnival. The most recent appearance to date involved the kids on stage at Movie Towne's series of pre - Carnival shows in February '09 highlighting the beauty of our nation's youth.  

His involvement with mas has taken him to many festivals outside of Trinidad & Tobago. Kelly has produced children's costumes for St Maarten, Cayman Islands and San Francisco Carnivals. Adult costumes have also been produced for Cayman Islands, St Maarten, Barbados, Miami, New York and San Francisco.

Carnival 2007 took Kelly to broader horizons. Ghana, Africa got its first taste of Carnival with Gerard Kelly at the helm. Kelly created history taking our fine artform to the people of Kumasi, Ghana.

In August 2009, Gerard Kelly was specially invited to Nigeria by Mrs. Obioma Liyel Imoke, wife of the Governor and the Government of Cross River State, Calabar, Nigeria. Having met Mr. Kelly in February 2009 and being privy to his presentation, Mrs. Imoke was quite impressed with his Band and its high standard and invited him to visit her homeland to impart some of his knowledge to her people.

Out of Nigeria came the inspiration for our 2k10 presentation "festival in dance". On his trip to Nigeria, Kelly was honoured to be asked to attend a workshop which gave birth to his favourite section from this year's portrayal Nigeria festat. This workshop which comprised of some young Nigerian students came together and created a model head mask based on the theme festival in dance, after which it was presented to Kelly. With this model and lots of other fantastic ideas Kelly return to Trinidad to begin his creations which this year has topped all the major competitions.

With anticipated cries from parents and children alike for the theme for presentation 2k11 Kelly with a few undeveloped ideas in mind headed off to Walt Disney. It is there he felt these ideas flourish, and it is there he conceptualised and designed a mental picture of this year's portrayal entitled "Welcome to Disney". To make this presentation even more special Kelly has brought the family back to the band's headquarters for its launch on Sunday 7th November 2010 with proceeds from the event being donated to our neighbouring Lady Hochoy family.

The years of devotion and dedication to the art form has earned Kelly a vast wealth of knowledge and experience and he obviously has quite a lot more to give to Trinidad & Tobago and the world.

Kiddies' Carnival is colour, pretty mas with good clean fun and lots of high energy and that is what Gerard Kelly Children's Carnival  Band is all about!!!!