(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) In what is expected to be a cultural extravaganza designed to whet the Region’s appetite for more, Guyana will officially roll out on Wednesday, (23 April, 2008) its slate of activities for the tenth staging of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA X) in August.

The official launch of CARIFESTA X which is choreographed in the form of an artistic production interspersed with speeches and titled ONE will be an outdoor event set for the Cenotaph just outside the Bank of Guyana. The two-hour production which commences at 6:00 p.m. will showcase the best of Guyanese and Caribbean talent including Limbo dancers from Trinidad, Drummology and Javanese dance from Suriname along with local artistes.

Representatives from the Guyana government, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Interim Festival Directorate (IFD), and the Regional Cultural Committee (RCC) who will be in Guyana for its nineteenth meeting, are expected to attend the event.

His Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo will officially launch the CARIFESTA. The Hon. Dr Frank Anthony, Guyana’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport; H.E Edwin W Carrington, CARICOM Secretary-General and representatives from the Caribbean Diaspora will also address the event.

The Region will also be officially introduced to the hardworking team of the CARIFESTA Secretariat who has undertaken the formidable task of preparing for the festival in just one year, and the Chief Executive Officer for CARIFESTA X will provide a comprehensive report of the progress of preparations for the festival to date.

Hosted under the theme: One Caribbean; One purpose; Our Culture; Our Life, the tenth staging of CARIFESTA in Guyana will boast an impressive lineup of activities including the opening and closing ceremonies, culinary, visual, literary and performing arts, community festivals, grand cultural market, child/youth fora, symposia and workshops as well as signal events and super concerts.

The Festival is returning to Guyana for the second time in over thirty-five years, the first being in 1972, when CARIFESTA was born.