As the 40th anniversary of the Caribbean Festival of Arts
| As the 40th anniversary of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) approaches, Festival City residents are in quest to make their community one of the Caribbean’s historical heritage sites.In an interview with Kaieteur News, yesterday, the chairman of the Festival City Parent and Youth Group (FCPYG), Richard Taylor, stated that they have approached the CARICOM Secretariat to have their community established as a heritage site for the Caribbean.“It is not just a piece of Guyana’s history, it’s a part of regional history. It was the first city that was ever built to house CARIFESTA. It is the only city that was ever built to facilitate the festival. We are looking to preserve this historical city and restore it to what it once was and let the people of the Caribbean know its significance.”Kaieteur News was told that this initiative is a collective idea of the FCPYG which was established a mere three months ago.According to Taylor, rehabilitative works have already started in the community.“We are currently involved in cleaning the drains in the community and we will be doing some more work on Sunday. We want members of the community to come and be part of a grand cleanup campaign.”The FCPYG will collaborate with numerous private sector organizations including Habitat for Humanity. The anniversary celebration will begin August 24.Some activities slated for the event are a football competition, a senior citizen’s day, youth gathering social, and the erecting of a monument to commemorate the significance of the occasion.According to Seraiah Hinds, FCPYG secretary, the group’s aim is to tackle the social, economical and educational issues in the community.“We have doctors, lawyers, teachers, electricians and other tradesmen living within the community so we are looking to harness all these resources and put them together to make it useful for Festival City. We also have head teachers, and Customs officers on board who will aid in the initiative,” Hinds related.He further noted that the group is looking to improve the employment rate among the Festival City populace.“We are looking to have the young people trained and taught basic trades and later establish a barber shop or salon where they can operate from.”This year the event will be celebrated as the CARIFESTA and Festival City 40th anniversary and family reunion.The CARIFESTA celebrations first took place in this post-independence format in Guyana in August 1972. CARIFESTA in Guyana lasted for three weeks. The celebrations which were held to commemorate the independence and republic status of Guyana between the latter parts of the 1960s into the early ‘70s, led to a great deal of discussion among the artistes who were involved.Critical to this discussion were two of the region’s most senior artists, novelist George Lamming and acclaimed Guyanese poet, Martin Carter.The then Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham supported the idea of a new Caribbean Arts Festival and offered to host the event; and so, CARIFESTA as we know it, was born. In 2008 the festival returned to its initial host Guyana in celebration of CARIFESTA X. |
