CARIFESTA XV Opened with a Parade of Nations and True Caribbean Heart

Historic Queen’s Park was a sea of colour and sound Friday evening as CARIFESTA XV opened in Barbados with a ceremony that felt part carnival, part Crop Over, and entirely Caribbean. Delegations in bright national colours streamed across the stage to cheers, waving flags and breaking into dances that turned a formal parade into a living, breathing showcase. The atmosphere was infectious—smiles everywhere, a chorus of shouts and song rolling back and forth between the stage and the stands, and the kind of spontaneous applause that arrives before you even realise you are on your feet.

Barbados’ own crossing brought the house down. More than two hundred stilt walkers skimmed past in a sweeping wave, towering and playful, a joyful nod to mokojumbie traditions and the spirit of our festivals. Landship followed with discipline and flair, its nautical precision and pageantry anchoring the spectacle in the island’s cultural roots.

Children craned for a better look; elders nodded, proud and satisfied; visitors filmed with their phones, trying to bottle the moment. When the last flag cleared the stage, Queen’s Park felt larger than itself, like the region had stepped into it and expanded the space.

Performances matched the energy. Nikita’s rendition of the CARIFESTA song floated over the grounds, clear, confident, and beautifully phrased, ushering in a run of acts that moved with sure-footed momentum. Sunrock set a lean, rootsy pulse; Biggie Irie lifted spirits with the easy warmth only he can conjure; Adrian Clarke reached across eras with well-loved numbers that had hips swaying all around the park. Wesu’s performance added charm, while Mahalia’s vocal silk drew a hush before the cheers returned. Between the songs, a theatrical and dance sequence stitched the programme together—drum, footwork, and gesture telling a story of Caribbean soul without needing a single line of dialogue.

Festival Director Carol Roberts set the tone early: “Caribbean Roots. Global Excellence. is more than words. It is our story—where we have come from, where we are today, and where we are going as a region.”  She reminded the audience that CARIFESTA “was born in 1972,” grown from a shared spirit to honour “our heroes, our myths, our language, and our art,” and that this edition stretches across ten days with dozens of events and thirty-plus participating countries.  Her emphasis on legacy rang out: investment in young technicians, new and sustainable production tools “from AI and holograms to solar-powered stages,” and spaces built to serve the region long after the last encore.

CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett widened the frame to the regional project itself. Calling the theme “an affirmation of a simple but powerful truth,” she argued that our strength lies in recognising that “our history and our heritage are the source of our impact far beyond the shores of our region.”  She saluted Barbados as a gracious host and noted the special significance of this edition—the first CARIFESTA since the COVID interruption and the third time the festival has returned to this island—evidence of a deep commitment to integration and cultural investment.  Her welcome deliberately stretched across the Atlantic: artists from the African continent and delegations from Latin America joining the Caribbean family on stage.

Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley kept it plain and powerful. “We have created some of our best work in the storms,” she said, reminding the region that creativity has flourished under pressure and that Barbados was determined to work with CARICOM “to give life once again, even in these difficult times, to the expression of creativity in the Caribbean civilisation.”  She called for CARIFESTA to “leave a legacy”—not only in the minds of young people who will tell this story fifty years from now, but in tangible platforms, including an electronic marketplace to keep our creative outputs alive and accessible.  In a concrete gesture, she announced Barbados’ purchase of the Banyan Productions archives—forty years of Caribbean memory, including tapes from CARIFESTA 1981—so that “our young people” can build on what came before.

The host Prime Minister also saluted the youth stamped into the show itself—“over 200 stilt walkers from Barbados, young stilt walkers”—who now have skills they can master and monetise.  It was a neat loop back to what the crowd had just witnessed on stage: culture as schooling, livelihood, and celebration all at once.

By the close, Queen’s Park was still buzzing. People clustered at the exits, trading favourites, humming hooks, pulling flags back out for one more photograph. It was the kind of opening that feels less like a beginning and more like a door swinging wide. Dr Barnett had said CARIFESTA is “a catalyst for creative industry development, strategic partnerships, digital innovation, and opportunity for the professional development of artists.”  On this showing, the catalyst has already sparked: the performers delivered; the speeches placed art at the centre of our shared future; and the audience answered with voices, hands, and feet.

If you needed one image to carry home, it might be those stilt walkers skimming across the stage, a flag tracing the arc behind them and a sea of phones catching the light. But the better image is the one we cannot photograph: a region deciding, again and again, to gather and make something together. That is the promise of CARIFESTA XV—rooted in memory, alive in the present, and reaching for what comes next. Or, as Roberts put it, “this is our Caribbean, rooted in history, brilliant in the present, and destined for more global excellence.”