Jammin’ in the Park DC 2012: Kes, Destra & Trinidad and Tobago at 50

On August 18, 2012, Washington, DC became part of Trinidad and Tobago’s golden-anniversary celebration as Jammin’ in the Park filled The Yards Park with Soca, Calypso, steelpan, dance, Caribbean food and culture.

The free outdoor festival arrived just days before Trinidad and Tobago marked 50 years of independence, bringing the country’s music and traditions to the waterfront in the nation’s capital. Kes the Band and Destra Garcia were among the featured Soca acts, while the wider celebration brought together performers representing different generations of Trinidad and Tobago music.

Julianspromos traveled from New York to document the festival after Sharifa “Rifa Madness” Nero, also known as DJ Rifa, reached out to Julian C. Hackett about collaborating on the coverage. Rifa conducted the interviews with Destra Garcia and Kes the Band, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.

Trinidad and Tobago Celebrates 50 Years

Trinidad and Tobago became an independent nation on August 31, 1962.

Half a century later, the anniversary was being celebrated far beyond the islands themselves, including in cities with large Caribbean communities throughout the United States.

Jammin’ in the Park brought that celebration to Washington, DC.

The festival wasn’t simply a Soca concert. Contemporary reporting described a wider cultural event built around Trinidad and Tobago’s golden anniversary, with The Mighty Sparrow, steelpan musicians, East Indian dancers, Caribbean food vendors and other cultural attractions joining the day’s entertainment.

It was a chance for the diaspora to celebrate the country through many of the things that have carried Trinidad and Tobago culture around the world: music, Carnival, food, dance and community.

Original flyer for Jammin’ in the Park at The Yards Park in Washington, DC, on August 18, 2012.

Jammin’ in the Park at The Yards

The setting gave the celebration a different feel from the clubs, concert halls and Carnival routes where Soca was often experienced.

The Yards Park, located along Washington’s waterfront, became the backdrop for an open-air Caribbean festival.

Families could spend the day around the park while music moved across the grounds. Food vendors, cultural presentations and live entertainment turned the event into a broader Trinidad and Tobago celebration rather than a traditional nighttime fete.

And when the Soca artists took the stage, that cultural festival became a party.

Destra Brings the Energy to Washington

By 2012, Destra Garcia was already firmly established as one of Soca’s most recognizable performers.

Her combination of vocals, stage presence and high-energy live performance had made her a major attraction throughout Trinidad Carnival and across the international Soca circuit.

At Jammin’ in the Park, Julianspromos captured both sides of her appearance.

Rifa Madness interviewed Destra offstage, giving viewers a chance to hear directly from the artist, while Julian’s camera also captured her performing before the Washington crowd.

Destra Garcia at Jammin’ in the Park, with the interview conducted by Sharifa “Rifa Madness” Nero. Footage shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett for Julianspromos.

The combination of an artist interview and extended performance made the footage more than a concert clip. It preserved Destra within the larger atmosphere surrounding Trinidad and Tobago’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Kes the Band at The Yards

Kes the Band brought another side of Trinidad and Tobago’s contemporary sound to Washington.

By this period, Kes had developed a musical identity that could move comfortably between Soca, Pop, Reggae, Rock and other Caribbean influences while remaining distinctly Trinidadian.

The Julianspromos coverage again moved between conversation and performance.

Rifa sat down with Kes the Band for the interview, while Julian documented the group performing live during the festival.

Kes the Band at Jammin’ in the Park, with the Julianspromos interview conducted by Sharifa “Rifa Madness” Nero and the coverage shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett.

For a celebration centered around Trinidad and Tobago at 50, Kes represented a newer generation of artists carrying the country’s music into an increasingly international era.

Who Is Rifa Madness?

For viewers discovering this footage years later, Sharifa “Rifa Madness” Nero, also known as DJ Rifa, had her own Caribbean media story before appearing in the Julianspromos coverage.

Born in Washington, DC and raised in Anguilla, Rifa developed a career around radio, DJing, entertainment media and artist interviews. Her background also included studies in Communications and Public Relations at the University of Maryland, and she became known as the host of The Rifa Madness Show.

That Caribbean media background made Jammin’ in the Park a natural setting for her.

More importantly, her involvement with Julianspromos did not begin as a routine hosting assignment.

Rifa reached out directly to Julian C. Hackett about working together on coverage of the Washington festival.

That outreach led to the collaboration seen in the surviving videos: Rifa in front of the camera speaking with the artists and Julian behind the camera capturing the interviews and live performances before editing the material for Julianspromos.

It gave the Washington coverage its own identity within the Julianspromos archive.

Benjai and “People’s Champion”

Another surviving piece of the festival coverage features Benjai.

The video combines an interview with a performance segment of “People’s Champion,” adding another voice from Trinidad and Tobago’s Soca scene to the material preserved from the day.

Benjai at Jammin’ in the Park in Washington, DC. Footage shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett for Julianspromos.

Benjai’s appearance further reflected the range of Soca represented at the festival — from established stars to artists whose songs were already deeply connected to Carnival and fete culture.

The Mighty Sparrow and Generations of Trinidad Music

The celebration also reached much further back into Trinidad and Tobago’s musical history.

The Mighty Sparrow was part of Jammin’ in the Park, connecting the event to one of the most important figures in Calypso.

Contemporary reporting specifically identified Sparrow as one of the performers traveling to Washington for the 50th-anniversary celebration.

That made the festival’s musical range especially fitting.

On one day, audiences could experience an artist representing the foundations of modern Calypso alongside performers such as Destra Garcia, Kes the Band and Benjai, who were helping shape the sound of contemporary Soca.

A broader Julianspromos festival video also preserves appearances involving The Mighty Sparrow, Raymond Ramnarine, Destra, Kes and other performers from the event.

Jammin’ in the Park 2012 highlights featuring artists from across Trinidad and Tobago’s musical landscape. Footage shot and edited by Julian C. Hackett.

One Country, Different Sounds

That mixture of generations and genres was one of the strengths of Jammin’ in the Park.

Calypso.

Soca.

Chutney influences.

Steelpan.

East Indian dance.

Carnival culture.

They were all parts of a much larger Trinidad and Tobago identity being celebrated in Washington.

The festival wasn’t presenting one narrow version of the country.

It was showing how many different traditions could exist together under the same flag.

Caribbean Culture in the Nation’s Capital

There was also something fitting about holding the celebration in Washington, DC.

The event brought Trinidad and Tobago culture into the capital of the United States during an important national anniversary, with members of the Caribbean diaspora gathering alongside diplomats, artists, families and music fans.

Contemporary reporting noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s ambassador to the United States was expected to participate in the festivities, underlining the significance of the occasion beyond entertainment alone.

But the festival never needed to feel ceremonial.

The music kept it alive.

People could eat, dance, listen to steelpan, watch performers and celebrate the country in the way Caribbean communities have always celebrated major moments — together and with music at the center.

From New York to Washington

For Julianspromos, Jammin’ in the Park also meant taking its cameras beyond its New York base.

The platform had moved into original artist interviews and event coverage during the previous year, and by 2012 those opportunities were beginning to stretch into other cities. The Washington trip became part of that expansion.

But the story of the day was bigger than the growth of a media platform.

The reason the footage still matters is what was in front of the camera:

Destra performing. Kes performing. Benjai. Sparrow. Raymond Ramnarine. Rifa talking with the artists. Families celebrating. Trinidad and Tobago turning 50.

From the Julianspromos Archives

Jammin’ in the Park on August 18, 2012 brought Trinidad and Tobago’s golden-anniversary celebration to The Yards Park in Washington, DC.

The surviving Julianspromos coverage preserves interviews and performances involving Destra Garcia, Kes the Band and Benjai, along with wider festival footage featuring The Mighty Sparrow, Raymond Ramnarine and other artists.

The collaboration began when Sharifa “Rifa Madness” Nero reached out to Julian C. Hackett about covering the festival. Rifa conducted the Destra and Kes interviews, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.

More than a decade later, the videos remain a snapshot of one summer afternoon when Washington became part of a much larger celebration:

50 years of Trinidad and Tobago, told through its music, its culture and its people.