BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – SPECTATORS in Barbados were last evening (Aug. 20) greeted with a sea of colours, cultural presentations and performances from regional artistes, as delegations for the 2017 CARIFESTA lit up the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown to officially open the 10-day event.
Despite recent threats from Tropical Storm Harvey, Barbados put on a spectacular show as over 15 delegations marched and danced their way into the ground for the official Opening Ceremony, which was attended by Prime Minister Fraundel Stuart and Ministers of his Government, regional Culture Ministers and dignitaries from around the world.
In providing the feature address and declaring the mega event open, Barbados’ Minister of Culture, Stephan Lashley called for unity within the region and urged persons to use the event as a means of true regional integration.
Against that backdrop, Lashely pointed out that CARIFESTA has had its fair share of challenges over the years, but it has withstood the test of time.
“Over the years, CARIFESTA has had its challenges; however, the vision for the festival has never waned. The tenacity of the spirit exhibited by leaders in the cultural sphere, successive regional governments and the CARICOM Secretariat together permitted CARIFESTA to survive a hiatus of 11years and return stronger in 1992.”
Acknowledgement was given to the late President of Guyana, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, for his foresight and vision to develop such an event.
Developed in early 1970s, Burnham and other leaders championed the event to showcase the region’s artists and others in the cultural arena.
CARIFESTA was birthed in 1972 and was voluntarily hosted by Guyana before making its way around the region.
This year, it has returned to Barbados and a total of 27 delegations are expected to be on the island – though many, including St. Kitts and Nevis, had missed the Opening Ceremony due to the inclement weather.
Over 1,500 participants are expected to showcase their country’s history and culture.
Many in the region had often criticized CARIFESTA for the lack of upgrades and making changes to have it modernized. But Lashley indicated that it has taken a new strategic direction.
“Our time, overtime efforts have been made to seek a new strategic direction for CARIFESTA. This new direction is intended to position the festival as the world renowned festival of Caribbean Cultural and Artistic Excellence that brings economic benefits, unites the region and excites all people.
“This new strategy demands that we leverage the comparative advantage afforded us by our natural cultural and human assets for economic development. Indeed, when we reflect on this, it is these assets that have placed us on the world stage. It started with our literary artistes…in recent times we have given to the world Bob Marley and of course our own Rihanna…”
Meanwhile, SKNVibes has confirmed that St. Kitts and Nevis has sent a 50-member delegation to the event.
The delegations winged out of St. Kitts some time after 12:00 p.n. today on a chartered flight bound for Bridgetown.
