Preparations for CARIFESTA XIII well underway

Trinidad and Tobago, host of CARIFESTA XIV, assured the Regional Culture Committee (RCC) of its preparedness for the mega arts festival at the 26th Meeting of the RCC which was held recently in Georgetown, Guyana.

Dr. Hilary Brown, Programme Manager for Culture and Community Development within the Directorate of Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat said Trinidad and Tobago, which was “well represented at the meeting,” was “already out of the block with their planning” for the August 2019 exposition of Caribbean creative dynamism.

In presenting its Hosting Proposal which was “well received” by the RCC, she said Trinidad and Tobago identified the core of its CARIFESTA XIV Management Committee. The country has also identified a marketing expert, and has launched jingle and logo competitions to garner public participation.

It updated the RCC on hotel capacity and informed that the hub for CARIFESTA will be the Queens Park Savannah which Dr. Brown considered to be “a good location” given its proximity to Trinidad’s National Academy of Performing Arts and a number of schools to accommodate the CARIFESTA Youth Village.

“Of course the Queens Park Savannah is a hub for Carnival that the Trinidadian public are well familiar with,” Dr. Brown added.

The regional culture expert said that CARIFESTA had evolved significantly since it began in 1972 as a Forum to promote the arts. While remnants of its beginnings still existed, she said that more recently, the Region had layered the development of the Creative Industry within the CARIFESTA space.

“Since CARIFESTA 2013 in Suriname, a cultural marketplace in the Festival was introduced: invite and international arts presenter to come and see what the Region has to offer, and network with artistes, and identify ways for opportunities for professional development, opportunities for touring, training. Barbados expanded on the concept and more is expected to be done in Trinidad,” Dr Brown said.

The new CARIFESTA Models saw greater collaboration with stakeholders including the governments of Italy and Germany, the United Nations System, and Caribbean Export, all of whom recognised the value of bringing ‘buyers’ to see a multiplicity of cultural expressions in the Region all in one place, she added.

“We were pleased with the progress so far. Trinidad has dubbed 2019 is the year of 2 Cs: Carnival and CARIFESTA. They would like a regional launch in September which may coincide with a meeting of the regional management body for the Festival. They want to launch early, probably targeting the Carnival period to promote CARIFESTA,” the regional cultural expert said.