With just a short time between the coming New Year and Carnival Monday everyone involved in the festival is already in high gear with preparations for it. Soca artistes and the music producers are spending sleepless nights to release as early as possible and some mas bands are sold out already or at least well on the way to closing off sales.

There are, however, still a few bands left to launch their respective 2013 presentations and one of these is Legacy, which will tomorrow reveal the designs for its presentation titled, Trinidad to Rio. This is scheduled to take place at the Katalyst Nightclub in St Clair where the 15 sections to be offered by the band will be showcased.

"We have 15 sections for next year, 12 of which were designed by me. The band remains fully all-inclusive and we are still in the Large Band category. Trinidad to Rio celebrates the nation's 50th Anniversary of Independence along with our Carnival, which is the greatest show on earth and we are also acknowledging Rio's carnival as the next big one," Mike "Big Mike" Antoine, cofounder of Legacy alongside his wife, Juliet de LaBastide, told the Express.

Antoine said tomorrow's launch will be a simple showing of the costumes being offered by the band, but the real impact of the overall presentation will be seen on Carnival Tuesday. Legacy, Antoine said, will unfold something very special on that evening.

Legacy is now in its eighth year, but Antoine co-managed Legends Mas Band for about 11 years before that and has actually been involved in mas band production for over the past 30 years working with Savage and Barbarosa before. In fact, before Antoine started producing his own mas band here he was doing the PowerX4 Mas Band in Barbados. His focus has always been ensuring each member of his band is completely satisfied and fully enjoyed the experience.

"We focus on delivering first class service to each member of the band no matter who they are. I always thank God for our supporters because they are the ones who have us here today and we will continue to put them first always," Antoine said.

In the meantime the band known as Generations Carnival launched last weekend at the Little Carib Theatre, Woodbrook. Having worked with a number of mas bands over the years designer, Aaron Schneider is now doing it his way in the band, Generations Carnival which makes its debut at Carnival 2013 with the presentation titled, The Lifting of the 7 Veils.

Schneider has designed the seven sections that explore the deadly sins as defined by the Roman Catholics namely: Lust, Greed, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Vanity and Sloth. According to the band's rationale these sins have long plagued mankind's ability to see his way forward, tripping us along our paths and creating obstructions to opportunities.

They are to be blamed for many a good man and woman's downfall, but they are cowards. They hide in innuendo and sarcasm and like the almighty cockroach, they evolve as quick as need be, changing form and name, but their

essence is always the same. The Schneider costumes are well designed with each section offering options in the way of style. The entire focus of Generations Carnival is to deliver an all round high quality product that will bridge the gap between youth and elders. Schneider has designed for among other bands; Trini Revellers, Trevor Wallace and Associates, Spice, Wayne Berkley, Louis Saldenah and also with bands throughout the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and Toronto, Canada. Schneider told the Express he understands the challenges mas makers have in sourcing materials and even labour in some cases, but they don't have to turn to importing from China or Japan. He believes there are enough things here in Trinidad that can be used to create wonderful costumes. "I intend to use all things local. I hope Trinidad and Tobago appreciates something like this as I have spent hours by myself doing it with just my imagination, vision and my glue gun. I just want to do something that is different, inspirational and beautiful," Schneider said. –With reporting by Wayne Bowman