IFD looks at venues to be used for CARIFESTA XIV
The Interim Festival Directorate (IFD) conducted a tour of venues that will be used during CARIFESTA XIV in Trinidad and Tobago, in just five months.
CARIFESTA XIV will be held 16-25 August 2019, under the theme ‘The Tangible and Intangible – Connect, Share, Invest’.
The Interim Festival Directorate (IFD) met on 25 and 26 March 2019, at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Center in Port-of-Spain to discuss preparations for the ultra-mega festival. The group did a walk through of the venues for the event including NAPA, the National Museum, the Central Bank Auditorium, Big Black Box performance space, Little Carib Theatre, Killarney/Stoll, Meyers Castle, and the Queens Park Savannah where the Grand Market will be held.
Three additional venues – Naparima Bowl and SAPA in the South of Trinidad and the Queens Hall – will be visited when the Regional Cultural Committee convenes its 27th Meeting on 27-29 March at the same venue as the IFD Meeting.
The topics discussed at the IFD meeting included Registration and Participation, Logistics, Venues and Accommodation, Promotion, Marketing and Revenue Streams and Artistic Components and Programming. Other specific components of the Festival that were addressed included the Marketplace for the Arts, Youth Village, Symposium, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The discussions at the IFD Meeting will feed into the meeting of the RCC.
This was the final face-to-face meeting of the IFD before the hosting of CARIFESTA. The group will meet virtually once more before the Festival.
CARIFESTA attracts artists and culture professionals from more than 30 countries in the Region and has been held 13 times across eight countries. Among the CARICOM Member States that have hosted this culturally iconic event are: Guyana (1972, 2008), Jamaica (1976), Barbados (1981, 2017), Trinidad and Tobago (1992, 1995, 2006), St. Kitts and Nevis (2000), Suriname (2003, 2013) and Haiti (2015). The Festival was held in Cuba in 1979.
So far, 19 countries have confirmed their attendance for CARIFESTA XIV.