CARIFESTA MAKES SYMBOLIC HOMECOMING TO GUYANA
- Minister Anthony urges Guyanese not to lose sight of its 'historic significance'
By Tajeram Mohabir
MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony said the return of the Caribbean Festival of Creative Art (Carifesta) to Guyana after 36 years is a symbolic homecoming and Guyanese should not lose sight of its historic significant.
He expressed these sentiments on Sunday at the launch of the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) City Enhancement Programme for Carifesta X, held at Festival City Entrance, the inaugural venue of the grand cultural spectacle.
Dr Anthony told the gathering of more than 150 – who were all entertained by Calypso star “Young Bill Rogers” and the “Yoruba Singers” - that all Guyanese have a role to play to ensure the event's success.
"Already we have hundreds of persons volunteering in the various sub-committees, at the central and regional level and their ideas and suggestions are being incorporated into the programme," he said.
"Thousands of persons from more than 20 countries are waiting with keen expectation to come to Guyana, to experience our hospitality, our cultural excellence and to join us in this holistic moment of Carifesta X...if we are hotel owners, then we must strive to provide the best possible service; if you are a restaurant owner, then you must strive to make the best food; if you are a volunteer, then the welcoming smile can help Guyana win more friends...and if you are a householder by cleaning and beautifying your yard and house, you would be making our country more beautiful," Dr. Anthony implored.
The minister also pointed out that some communities have already started to identify venues and are working on programmes on how they would interact with the various overseas delegations.
Festival City, the minister said, needs to do the same and noted that they have a historic advantage being the first venue for the mega event.
Georgetown will be a major hub for Carifesta with events slated for the National Park, the museum, the art gallery, the Sports Hall, the Gymnasium, the National Library, the National Cultural Centre, the Theatre Guild, the Guyana International Convention Centre and the Sophia Exhibition Complex.
"Our plan include several art exhibitions, signal events, super concerts, dancing, drumming, music including steel band, poetry, storytelling, book exhibition, symposia, international food and craft fair, fashion and Amerindian Village," he said.
Dr Anthony stressed that a lot of hard work and commitment would be needed in the next 140 days for the event but expressed optimism that as a team, Guyana will be able to surmount the challenges.
"Another important partner, the City Council has come on board. I am sure that the enhancement programme that they have will certainly help to give our city a clean and refreshing look. But it must not stop there, we have to work to inculcate the values of a clean environment, so that what we do now can be sustained," he urged.
Mayor Hamilton Green pointed out that Guyana’s second hosting of Carifesta is an indication that great things are in the making and government must be commended for taking the progressive step.
He noted that the event presents Guyanese an opportunity to put aside their difference and to cooperate and feast together in unity and harmony.
Green recalled that the first Carifesta was the flag-ship that exposed and led to a flourish in paintings, songs, dances and the other forms of art in the region.
Festival City Community Group Chairperson Donna Morgan pointed out that some of their intended activities for the event include the erection of an arch at the community's entrance, the replacement of Festival City sign, the construction of an L-Shape concrete drain in front of the Municipal Clinic and the National Library, the construction of a foot path linking Humming Bird Street to Perry Street, Tucville; an art competition in the Ruimveldt District targeting primary and secondary school students and the renaming of streets.
She said the opportunity to participate in the second Carifesta to be hosted here is a pleasant feeling which words can hardly express.
The M&CC Carifesta City Enhancement Programme is sponsored by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) and Banks DIH limited.
Both entities noted their pleasure to be part of the programme to beautify the city during the Cultural extravaganza.
Guyanese foresight first planted the seed for Carifesta on August 25th 1972. In 1976, the second Carifesta was hosted in Jamaica under the theme " A Hallmark of Cultural Extravanza"; the third entitled "Rainbow of Peoples under One Caribbean Sun" was held in Havana, Cuba in 1979.
The fourth titled "Under the Living Image of the Sun" was hosted by Barbados in 1981. After an 11 year lull, the fifth themed "Together in Strength" was held in 1992 and the sixth "The World's Best Cultural Mix" followed in 1995.
In 2000, St. Kitts & Nevis hosted the seventh Carifesta -"Caribbean Arts and Culture, Reflecting, Consolidating, Moving on".
The eighth event was held in Suriname in 2003 under the theme "Many Cultures: The Essence of Togetherness, the Spirit of the Caribbean".
Thee years later, the last Carifesta - the 1X "Celebrating Our People, Contesting the World Stage’ was again hosted in Trinidad and Tobago.
