Senior Reporter
It was more a celebration than a funeral yesterday, as steelpan music, traditional mas and the red, white and black of national flags brought the streets of Port-of-Spain alive for Slinger “Mighty Sparrow” Francisco’s farewell parade.
From Independence Square, along Frederick Street to the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), people lined the route, flags in hand.
Students from schools across Trinidad joined towering moko jumbies and blue devils, while music trucks and the All Stars Steel Orchestra provided the soundtrack to a farewell filled with the cultural contributions Sparrow had carried to the world.
For pannist and music producer Dane Gulston, who participated in the parade, the celebration was fitting for the calypso legend.
“He lived as a king and he died as a king,” he said.
Gulston said the occasion recognised a cultural figure whose contribution extended beyond Trinidad and Tobago to the Caribbean and the world.
“Today is celebrating a real king of the culture,” he said.
He described a happy feeling among those gathered, saying that joy reflected Sparrow’s ability to entertain and bring happiness to people through his work.
Gulston said it was an honour and a pleasure for cultural practitioners to share the occasion with Sparrow’s family and friends, while remembering what he had given to the country and the region.
“It’s freedom to enjoy, to enjoy Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
Culture Minister Michelle Benjamin, who also participated in the parade, said the turnout demonstrated the depth of the country’s affection for Sparrow.
“I think everyone could see that the nation is in mourning,” she said, describing him as “the giant, the legend that we are about to say farewell to.”
Benjamin said people had come from throughout Trinidad and Tobago to pay their respects. She expressed gratitude for their presence and said the Government had been able to honour the wishes of Sparrow’s family.
“Of course, we are saddened by the moment that we have to say goodbye, but I was glad that as a Government and minister, we were able to honour the family’s wishes and we have the privilege of saying goodbye,” she said.
The farewell also reached beyond those gathered along the streets.
Benjamin said livestreaming allowed Sparrow’s international following—the wider family drawn to him and Trinidad and Tobago through his talents—to participate.
Dignitaries also travelled to Trinidad to pay their respects, she added.
Port-of-Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne, who joined the procession, said the city had been playing its part in honouring a figure whose influence extended far beyond the capital.
“The Mighty Sparrow is a legend, not just for us in the city of Port-of-Spain, but also for all of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and across the region and across the world,” he said.
Alleyne said the city’s support included working with concerned citizens to clean Sparrow’s statue near the Queen’s Park Savannah.
A tribute programme featuring several calypsonians was also held at City Hall the previous day, he said.
That involvement continued with services on the streets for the procession.
“We’re playing our part today in terms of the services that we have on the street to make sure that the city has been prepared for the celebration,” Alleyne said.
Asked about further tributes, he said a conversation had begun within the caucus.
“At the appropriate time, we’ll be able to make an announcement,” he said.
For supporter Dolores Sylvester, who also took part in the parade, the farewell was fitting, although she would have liked to see Sparrow’s Grenadian roots represented by that country’s flag.
“It was well deserved,” she said of the tribute.
Sylvester said a Grenadian flag should have been included to acknowledge his birthplace alongside the country where he grew up.
“He was born there, grew up here and everything else here,” she said.
Another participant, Cathy Robinson, said she had come “to support the greatest King of Calypso.”
She also wanted to have fun, take part and enjoy herself, an approach she believed Sparrow would have welcomed.
“This will be the exact thing he would like everyone to participate in,” Robinson said.
Born Slinger Francisco in Grenada on July 9, 1935, Sparrow grew up in Trinidad and first rose to prominence with his 1956 hit Jean and Dinah, building a career that carried calypso to audiences around the world.
The celebrated singer and songwriter, known as the Calypso King of the World, died in New York on September 27, 2026, aged 91.
Along the parade route, national flags, schoolchildren, traditional mas and steelpan gave public expression to the farewell. Benjamin captured the mixture of gratitude and grief in one sentence.
“Today is a great and a sad day in the same way.”
