BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - UNDER the theme ‘Dominican Republic Edition’, the Fourth Annual Latin Fiesta, LLC will be hosted at the St. Kitts Marriott Beach on Sunday (Oct. 27), commencing at 1:00 p.m.
The event’s annual launch was held yesterday morning (Sept. 10) at the St. Kitts Marriott in Frigate Bay.
The major entertainment highlight of the Festival will feature Joseph Fonsesco from Puerto Rico and Allendi from the Dominican Republic.
The event’s calendar leading up to the annual extravaganza was also publicised yesterday.
There will be a Dominican Republic Movie presentation at the Caribbean Cinema, starting at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday (Oct. 23), which will be followed by Latin Fiesta Downtown Warm-up on Friday (Oct. 25), starting at 2:00 p.m. And on the eve of the Festival, Saturday (Oct. 26), another event, dubbed Havana Express and Friends, will be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, starting at 8:00 p.m.
Chairman of the Latin Festival José Rosa recapped that over the years the event was held at the Carambola Beach Club and in previous years at the Spice Mill Restaurant, both of which are located in the South East Peninsula.
As understood from him, in selecting a host venue, organisers look to be "close to the beach (so) that the sand always would be our floor.”
“It's great to be in the Marriott, one of the landmarks in St. Kitts and Nevis, to have the events,” he added.
According to Rosa, many Kittitians had asked him when the next Festival would be held, and he declared that “it is great that we have been able to reach that level and I'm very happy about it”.
He highlighted that the hurricane season (June to November) is “always our concern” and added that “I cannot control that”.
Rosa light-heartedly opined that “we are not going to have any this year and we are going to have a great party”.
LIME’s General Manager David Lake revealed that this is the first time the telecommunications giants has provided sponsorship for the Latin Fiesta and noted that his company is “delighted” and “grateful” for the opportunity.
He said the Latin Fiesta event “has grown from strength to strength and which I'm certain will continue to grow”.
General Manger of the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, Jacques Hamou expressed that while the Festival promotes Latin music, it also “seeks to promote our country, its culture and its people to wider audience”.
He highlighted the hotel’s pleasure to be a part of the event.
“In the last three years, we have seen the audience grow and welcomed visitors and artistes from Puerto Rico and as far as Brazil, and this year it's going be the Dominican Republic. Marriott is very proud to be sponsoring this year’s Latin Festival.”
Hamou declared: “We are very happy to promote it and hopefully we will be able to support it for many years to come.”
Minister of Tourism Richard ‘Ricky’ Skerritt pointed out that the Festival is one that could attract visitors to the Federation.
“This event was perfectly timed in consultation to fit in what is generally what we call a shoulder period in the tourism sector, where hotel occupancy is a little lower than we want it to be. And so this has an opportunity over time as it builds up to drive some visitors to St. Kitts, and we have already begun to see that happening.”
Skerritt assured Rosa that he could count on the Ministry of Tourism as being “a firm partner in a supporting act…that supporting act is going to get even stronger this year”.
“Be assured that you now have a partner that will grow from strength to strength in terms of active financial and technical support to this event in the interest of the development of the tourism economy,” he added.
The Tourism Minister addressed the potential of the Festival in reaching a growing market.
“Clearly, this event touches a market. Potentially, that is a market emerging and a market that will become more and more important to us. And it reaches a growing sector of our own community. That is, the inhabitants who have Latin origin and that is becoming more and more diverse. So not only does it help to integrate the local community but reaches into as we've done in Puerto Rico and actually promote the event through travel agents last year and other areas in Florida previously. It does give the possibility in the future of reaching new market. So we have every good reason, both social and economic, to be involved and supporting this event.”
Ex-officio member of the Latin Fiesta, Dawn Poujade gave details of the Festival’s main event, which would include folkloric presentations and dancing, Latin cuisine and a mojita bar, compliments the Soda Restaurant from Puerto Rico.
She shared that local arts and craft would be on display, hopefully for sale also.
Poujade said a calligraphy artist from Puerto Rico would also have items on display for sale as well.
She also talked about the continued free transportation services to the Festival.
“Quite naturally, as in the past, the Latin Festival has provided transportation free of cost for those who do not have transportation or who do not wish to drive their own vehicles. This would be provided from downtown and parking will be available on the Greens in Frigate Bay. We will also be providing a shuttle service from the greens to the Marriott and back. And there will also be security. So your vehicles will be taken care of.”
General admission is EC$25 by ticket which includes US$10 in free slot plays from the St. Kitts Marriott Royal Casino and free top-up, compliments LIME. The VIP ticket, valued at EC$170, includes buffet lunch, reserved seating and US$25 in free slots plays from the St. Kitts Marriott Royal Casino.
Tickets are available at Kajola Kristada: 1-869-466-109/760-1981, Avalon Lab (St Kitts):1-869-466-5558 and Avalon Lab (Nevis): 1-869-469-7520.
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