We Gatherin’ 2025’ off to a flying start, says senator

The month-long celebrations of We Gatherin’ 2025 have been hailed as a resounding success, with officials expressing hope for the event to become a quinquennial fixture in the nation’s calendar. 

The initiative, which aims to celebrate the island and its citizens, has seen a surge in community engagement and national pride, according to Senator John King, director of the We Gatherin’ 2025 Secretariat.

The 12-month celebration of the island and its citizens, which was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was launched in earnest in January, with a number of entertainment, cultural and educational events occurring across St Lucy from New Year’s Day.

Speaking to reporters after a brief ceremony at State House on Wednesday, where ten Barbadians from St Lucy were honoured in the We Gatherin’ 2025 Honours for their significant contributions to community life in their parish, King said the start of the year-long celebrations has no doubt been a success thus far.

“I want to thank the parish organising committee and the people of St Lucy for making We Gatherin’ a great success already. Just the start has been fantastic,” he said. “The entire community has been coming out to all the events, we’ve had people coming from across the island also to support.

“When they had the cricket match I saw endless G cars, I am still trying to figure out what that was all about. A lot of people from St George seem to have gone to that cricket match in particular.”

When asked about the lineup of events planned for St Peter in February, King said he would not reveal any surprises but assured Barbadians that the St Peter committee is fully prepared for its scheduled activities.

“Look out for St Peter,” he said. “The friendly rivalry between the parishes is on. St Lucy has been this great [and] we expect St Peter to step it up a notch.”

Prime Minister Mottley voiced her support for the We Gatherin’ events held so far and expressed hope that the initiative would eventually be celebrated every five years.

“When 2020 was therefore taken from us because of the pandemic, we committed that we want to be able to have this not as a one-off event, but as a periodic event. While I may not be here in 2030 or 2035 in this position. I want to hope that what we are doing today will allow Barbadians to come together every five years and pause as families, pause as strong communities, pause as a parish, and be able to reflect on what we do each and every day,” she said. (SB)