(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) At the end of a ten-day magical display of Caribbean culture taking place throughout the length and breadth of Guyana, the country’s President, His Excellency Bharat Jagdeo has lauded nationals of Guyana for the tremendous display of hospitality in hosting the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA).
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) When The Bahamas opens its arms in 2010 to welcome artists from the Caribbean, officials there will do so in the warm and festive style for which the chain of Caribbean islands is known.
Some of this was on display on Sunday, 31 August at the Guyana National Stadium as the curtain came down on CARIFESTA X and the Minister of State in The Bahamas Ministry of Culture, the Hon. Mr. Charles Maynard, accepted the CARIFESTA scroll from Guyana’s Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, the Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Goergetown, Guyana) CARIFESTA X ended Sunday evening in Georgetown after ten days of at times frenetic activities, reflections, soothing night-time chorales, thought-provoking symposia and impressive presentations of art and artforms and other events at various venues throughout Guyana.
The curtains were drawn at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence - the venue where it all began on 22 August - after a colourful, high energy ceremony during which the CARIFESTA baton was passed on to The Bahamas which will host CARIFESTA XI in 2010.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) When the legendary musical maestro Trinidadian Lord Kitchener died in 2000 the Steel band in Trinidad and Tobago was dealt a serious blow from which it has not yet recovered. This view was expressed by Rubadiri Victor in a presentation under the theme “Journeys of Caribbean Imagination” in the continuing symposia series which is being held as a part of the 10th staging of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA).
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) An ongoing programme of cultural diplomacy can be beneficial to the Caribbean once it is implemented strategically. Such a programme should draw on the unique culture of the Caribbean which is being displayed at the 10th staging of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), now taking place in Guyana.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Drums, dance, pan and soca music, chorale singing, story telling and pottery making converged at the Grand Market in the National Exhibition Site Sophia to create an alluring exposition of the Caribbean culture as CARIFESTA X fever intensifies in Georgetown, Guyana.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Nobel Laureate the Hon Derek Walcott, OCC has warned the Caribbean Region against foreign investors whom he asserted did not facilitate or create opportunities for cultural development.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Tenth Staging of the Caribbean Festival of the Arts, (CARIFESTA X) yesterday 24 August 2008 brought together, in a symposium, five outstanding literary artists who gave differing views on the status and future of Caribbean Culture under the theme: Caribbean Culture At the Crossroads: Seeking the Past, Living the Present, Exploring the Future.
It is a great honour to be present at the opening of CARIFESTA X and a pleasure for me to be part of the exciting experience of this mega arts festival. I am also very happy, as Head of Government with lead responsibility for Culture, Youth, Gender and Sport in the Quasi-Cabinet of CARICOM to congratulate His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo and the People of the Republic of Guyana for bringing the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) back to the place where it originated thirty-six years ago.
CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater, Georgetown, Guyana) Nostalgic recollections of the first Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) in 1972, and cultural presentations from a number of contingents, were the highlights Saturday evening at the opening of the Community Festivals in Festival City, Georgetown, Guyana.
Festival City, built by `self-help’, was constructed to house the contingents from more than 30 Caribbean countries which came to Guyana for CARIFESTA 36 years ago.