Remarks Given at Press Conference for Festival 2008
Director of Culture and Chairman of VIFFC Mrs. Luce Hodge-Smith
Central Administration Complex Conference Romm #3
JULY 10TH, 2008

~~Adz:Left~~Tortola, B.V.I- Hon. Andrew Fahie, Mrs. Sheila Braithwaite, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, Good Morning.  This morning I have the pleasant task of giving you an update on the plans for Festival 2008.

Under the theme:  “Anticipating a Bright Future, Paying Tribute to Our Past While Celebrating Our Culture” and the slogan:  “It’s Gonna Be Great, Let’s Celebrate and Educate – Festival 2008”, our Emancipation Celebrations will begin on July 25th and end on August 9th.  Kia Steele submitted the theme and Willis Hughes Jr. submitted the slogan.

The Village this year is named in honour of Franche Gumbs.  It will be called “Franche’s Cultural Ville”.  Franche Gumbs is a long-standing member of the Virgin Islands Festivals and Fairs Committee who has had the mammoth task of heading the Village Sub-Committee.

The activities will begin with the official opening ceremony.  This year the ceremony will be in the form of a play entitled, “Well, Well, Well”.  It is centred on the Sunday Morning Well.  The play was written by Karen Jones Meadows and will be directed by her as well.  Karen Jones Meadows is an award winning author, actress and producer who write for adult and young audiences with an emphasis on creating dynamic characters in stories that are universal in theme, passion and resolution.  The cast of the play will include persons from throughout the community and some members of the Festival Committee.  The purpose of staging this play is to keep in line with the ideas that came out of the Think Tank Committee of making Festival more cultural and educational. 

It also reflects the mission and vision of the Virgin Islands Festivals and Fairs Committee.  On July 26th, the Local Calypso Show will be held, Sunday July 27th, the Panorama will be staged, July 28th will be the BVI Talent Explosion, on the 29th it’s the Junior Calypso Show, on July 31st it’s the Cultural Night and on August 1st and 2nd the Super Weekend will take place.  This year we have changed up this weekend.   Instead of the International Reggae Night and the International Calypso Night, we have mixed the nights with calypso and reggae.  The main acts for the weekend will Etana, Morgan Heritage, Daville, and Gyptian.  This weekend we will also feature our local bands, Showtime Band and Extreme Band.  Other bands will be Express Band and Cool Session, just to name a few. 

Despite all that you have heard, there are international artists.  What we have done and lessen amount and invite the ones of quality.  We have also scheduled our local bands and some from our neighbours, the USVI.  For further details on the entertainment line-up you may refer to your copy of the schedule.

There are other activities as the Cultural Fair, which will be held for two days, August 1st and 2nd at the Palm Grove Park and this year our senior citizens will be actively involved. On Monday, the grand parade will be held.  On Tuesday the Aquatic Sports will be held and in the afternoon the traditional horse racers will be held at the newly re-named Ellis Thomas Downs.  One pre-event will be held on July 20th is the Prince and Princess Show where 8 couples will participate.

Our Festival activities are not complete without the Sunrise Service and the Sunday Morning Well Ceremony, which will be held on August 1st and August 2nd respectively. 

After the activities in Town have ended, all roads will lead to East End/Long Look.  Their activities begin on Sunday, 3rd August with boat races, Monday 4th August with a Reggae Night featuring local artists such as Ritical and Quito and the Edge.  The main guest will be Richie Spice.  On Tuesday night the Soca Night will be staged with such artists as Biggie Irie of Barbados, Hunter of Dominica, and Randy Isaac of Grenada and Cray of Trinidad.  East End/Long Look activities culminate on Wednesday with a Fun Day and Parade.  There will be jump ropers, cheerleaders and storytelling.  Entertainment will be by Showtime Band, Four Strong and JDPP.  The village this year is named in honour of Mrs. Medita Wheatley, the first festival queen of East End/Long Look.

On Thursday 7th August, the Carrot Bay Cultural Fiesta begins with the Fisherman’s Tournament.  In the same evening, the official opening will take place with the production of a play written by Velma Chung.  On Friday, the traditional games will take place and in the evening there will be entertainment.  On Saturday, 9th August it all ends.  Some of the entertainment are:  Lashing Dogs, Claudette Peters and Tarik Band, UMB Soldiers, Duane Stephenson, Jah Cure and others.  The Fiesta this year is named in honour of Zephaniah Donovan.

The various sub-committees have been working extremely hard to put in place the plans they have laid out.  At this time I wish to express my profound gratitude to each of the sub-committee chairpersons, co-chairpersons and members of each sub-committee.  As volunteers it is not an easy time, juggling a full time job, taking care of a family and putting long hours to organize Festival.  I wish to assure you that your contributions are greatly appreciated.  In simple words, thank you for your support.  Appreciation is also extended to the staff of the Department of Culture.

In the next few days you will be bombarded with information about the activities.  You are encouraged to listen out, read the papers and obtain your copies of the flyers.

Finally, I take this opportunity to wish everyone a safe and happy Festival 2008.  More importantly, I encourage you to participate in as many activities as possible.  Without your participation this significantly historical event would be no more.