Pan Trinbago President Patrick Arnold made it official that the
following changes will be implemented for 2004.
* CONVENTIONAL ORCHESTRAS Three (3) categories of judging
Small 35-60 players
Medium 65-90 players
Large 95-120 players
together with the TRADITIONAL ORCHESTRAS (PAN round de neck)

Bands are restricted to performing within their category, when they
move from one stage of the competition to another. This means that
should for example a "small" band qualify for the semifinal or final,
they cannot get additional players and switch to medium or large
category for subsequent stages of the competition.

In addition the length of the calypso arrangement is now eight (8)
minutes.

ARRANGERS can now do music for four (4) bands, one in each category.

In related details, the house DJ will be instructed to play a band's
calypso selection for a maximum of 8 minutes during setup time on
stage so as to encourage the bands to "roll on / roll off" as quickly
as possible.

Many bands / steel orchestras welcome the change but reqgret that they
were notified of it only in late November / December of 2003 just
prior to the 2004 season.

Competition is expected to kick off on 29th January, some six (6) days
later than originally scheduled. This is largely because of bands
requesting additional time to prepare for the 'early season'.