Blockorama

Blockorama was originally a local family fete. It was held in churches, coffee shops, parks, town squares or city streets and at a convenient time when most people could attend the event. 

It was not until the latter half of the 20th century that it became a community event. The best steelbands or orchestras were selected to entertain the gathering with their music and arts. 

It is now held on a Sunday or Thursday in parks, city streets or blocks closed off to vehicles. This outdoor party is free to people of all ages with food stalls, market vendors, activities, games and prizes to keep crowd entertained.

Blockorama brings people together whether they are interested in steelband or simply want to support the community and have fun. It is one of the big summer events during the carnival season leading up to panorama. The steelband performances embrace popular music as well as the traditional calypso. 

Sometimes individual steelbands organize their own blockorama and invite other local steelbands to perform to give the community a taste of the upcoming carnival competition. Although its main focus remains, the event is often used as a platform for fundraising to assist in the running of the steelbands. To spice-up blockorama, organisers sometimes arrange for the steelbands to compete in a friendly competition. 

Some steelbands hold monthly mini-blockoramas as a meeting place for the local community and to maintain support for their steeband.

Spelling variations for this event

Blocko
Bloco
Blocko Rama
Bloco Rama
Block-o-rama
Bloco-o-rama
Blockorama 
Blocorama