Echoes of Us: Our Voice. Our Vibe.
the official CARIFESTA Creative Youth Legacy Competition
What is
echoes of us?
Echoes of Us invites young people across the Caribbean to share their stories, ideas and creativity through writing, music, and multimedia. Whether you experienced CARIFESTA XV firsthand or are inspired by Caribbean culture and identity, this competition gives you the space to create, reflect, and be heard.
This is not just about winning prizes.
It's about capturing youth perspectives, celebrating creativity, and turning lived experiences into lasting cultural works that will be preserved as part of the CARIFESTA legacy.
Connection to CARIFESTA XV
Echoes of Us: Our Voice. Our Vibe. is part of the official CARIFESTA Legacy Programme, developed under the Division of Culture, Prime Minister's Office.
CARIFESTA XV brought young people from across the region together to celebrate culture, creativity, and Caribbean identity. This competition carries that energy forward, beyond the festival stage, by giving youth a platform to reflect on what CARIFESTA meant to them and how it continues to shape their voices.
Echoes of Us ensures that CARIFESTA XV does not end with the closing ceremony, but lives on through youth-created stories, songs, and visuals that will be archived and shared for years to come.
Why youTH voiceS MATTER
Young people are not just the future of the Caribbean, they are its present.
Your experiences, ideas, and creative expressions matter. They shape how culture evolves, how stories are told and how the Caribbean is seen by the world. Echoes of Us was created to ensure that youth voices are not only heard, but valued, documented and preserved.
This competition recognises young people as creators, storytellers, and cultural leaders. By sharing your work, you are contributing to a living archive of Caribbean identity, one shaped by those who are growing, dreaming and creating right now.
Three categories. Three Ways To
echo.
Got Questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
Young people aged 21 years and under are eligible.
Eligibility varies by category:
Literary Arts and Music are open only to students who participated in the CARIFESTA XV Youth Jamboree.
Multimedia is open to all eligible youth across CARICOM.
You may still enter the Multimedia category. Participation in the Youth Jamboree is required only for the Literary and Music categories.
Yes. Participants may submit one entry per category, provided they meet the eligibility requirements for each category.
Literary Arts entries must be individual. Music and Multimedia entries may be collaborative, with a maximum of three (3) collaborators. One person must be identified as the lead submitter.
For collaborative submissions, prizes will be awarded to the group as a whole. The group is responsible for agreeing on how any prize money is shared among Collaborators.
Limited AI use is allowed only for technical support (e.g. grammar checks, audio cleanup). AI must not generate the main creative content. Any AI tools used must be declared during submission.
Failure to declare AI use may result in disqualification.
Accepted formats include:
Documents: PDF, Word
Audio: MP3, WAV
Video: MP4
Images: JPG, PNG
File size limits will be clearly stated on the submission portal.
If you experience technical difficulties, you should contact the Project Team before the submission deadline using the contact details provided. Late submissions due to unresolved technical issues may not be accepted.
Due to the regional scale of the competition, individual feedback will not be provided. Judges’ decisions are final.
No. There is no appeal process. All judging decisions are final.
Winners will be formally notified and recognised at the Awards Ceremony in Barbados. Selected works will also be featured in public showcases and included in the CARIFESTA Youth Legacy Anthology and Digital Archive.
Attendance is encouraged but not mandatory. Where applicable, travel arrangements and participation details will be communicated directly to winners.
Creators retain full copyright of their work. By submitting, entrants grant the Division of Culture, Prime Minister’s Office, permission to use the work for cultural, educational, and legacy purposes with proper credit.