Media at the Heart of CARIFESTA XV: “Access Granted”

CARIFESTA XV Festival Director Carol Roberts has issued a powerful invitation to the media: 

“You are responsible for capturing the soul of any activity that happens in arts and culture.” At a recent media briefing, Roberts emphasised that the success of CARIFESTA XV depends not just on programming, but on storytelling — and the media’s central role in sharing it.

With over 1,000 delegates confirmed and more than 3,000 artists and creators expected, access is key. Roberts declared to applause: “Access granted.” Media houses, journalists, bloggers, and influencers can expect full support from the Directorate.

“This is  an opportunity to not only keep you up to date and abreast of our plans for CARIFESTA XV, but also to start off before we ask, to say thank you for all that you do on a daily basis to allow us to see ourselves as Caribbean people, as Barbadians, as brothers and sisters of a wider African diaspora, and people who just every day get up and try to do our best,” the Festival Director said.

She stated that CARIFESTA reflects that Caribbean-ness through the arts and culture, not only provides a stage for celebration, but allows Caribbean people a moment in time, to examine themselves and their history, and where they are going.

“CARIFESTA is also to love ourselves, to realise that we all look alike, we all have similar ancestral DNA, and we all have a purpose, and we all have the opportunity and the potential to be world-class, even if we are not all on the “world stage”. And no other activity in the Caribbean does it like CARIFESTA, certainly not West Indies cricket. So it is that moment where together we are truly one in the arts and culture,” she declared.

Roberts pointed out that while she is the CEO of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), CARIFESTA is much bigger than the NCF. The importance of Barbados hosting CARIFESTA, as it has been for all of the countries who have taken up the mantle ... is that CARIFESTA leaves the host country better than it found it. And that is important, she emphasised. 

“The legacy [of CARIFESTA is] even more important than the activities on the ground for the 10 days. Because it is that legacy component in 1981 that led to the establishment of the National Cultural Foundation; that led to the establishment of a lot of service providers in the arts and entertainment industry that are existing to this day; that led to improvements in stage productions, not just large-scale entertainment events, but theatrical events as well, that led to a number of people being trained and then trained further post-CARIFESTA,” the Festival Director explained.

She emphasised the reason for meeting with the Media was so that all information could be shared with the public as soon as possible. 

“We can put on the best events that we can and they can be very well run and everybody can attend. But if you are not a part of it, who knows? The only people who will know will be those who attend. And then that raises a further question. How could they even know how to attend? And it's not only about advertising. You can buy the advertising and we can produce the ads and we can put them on.

“But you are responsible for capturing the soul of any activity that happens in arts and culture.

Politics aside and the economy and the Central Bank report, when you cover arts and entertainment events and you cover cultural events, you cover and you capture the soul of the event. It's not about the figures only and it's not about the number of people who attended or whether it was incident free or not.

“It is about the soul of the event and there is no other activity in any country's day-to-day operations that captures the soul of that country like the arts and culture. It doesn't matter whether it is positive. It doesn't matter whether it is negative.

“It doesn't matter whether it is disruptive. It doesn't matter whether it's game changing. What matters on every single instance in these scenarios is that you're capturing the heart and soul of the country and that is why you are important and that is why the media partnerships with you are important,” Roberts implored.

An official CARIFESTA App — now in its testing phase — will allow for easy registration, accreditation, and event updates.

“We want to enter into meaningful partnerships,” she said, noting the importance of media coverage in reaching communities across the island and the diaspora.

Whether capturing a pop-up dance performance in Haynesville, a stilt-walker in Speightstown, or a film screening in St. Philip — the story of CARIFESTA XV belongs to everyone.