Barbados to host 100-strong Jamaica delegation for CARIFESTA

A 100-member delegation is set to represent Jamaica at the 15th staging of CARIFESTA in Barbados from August 22 to 31.

Executive Director for the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) and Head of the Jamaica Delegation to CARIFESTA, Lenford Salmon, told JIS News that the festival will see cultural offerings from the country in several areas.

“We’re sending a 100-member-strong delegation to CARIFESTA, and this would involve pulling from a number of cultural disciplines, from dance to traditional folk to theatre to stand-up comedy. Film is also included,” Salmon said.

“We have some of our leading studio dance companies in Jamaica, the National Dance Theatre Company and L’Acadco, which are the leading dance companies not only in Jamaica but across the region, who will lead the charge. We have the Tivoli Dance Troupe; they will be there as well,” he added.

He noted that special emphasis will be placed on the representation of traditional folk forms, highlighting the African ancestry of Jamaicans.

“We took a deliberate decision to expose the traditional folk forms. We all come from the same place, Africa, so it happens across the region. We particularly wanted to have this as a part of the exposé that we do this year, and so we have Manchioneal Cultural Group out of Portland, who will be in there as well,” Salmon said.

Jamaican stand-up comedy will be featured with the comic stylings of popular comedians Owen “Blacka” Ellis and Christopher “Johnny” Daley.

“In terms of pop acts, there’s going to be a signal night for reggae, and we have Warrior King, Morgan Heritage, Jesse Royal and Tarrus Riley [who] were actually invited directly by Barbados,” Salmon informed.

The festival will also feature a Grand Market and Trade Hub where Jamaican-made products will be on display and for sale.

“We have some 36 artisans that are going to be in the marketplace for Caribbean products, which includes fashion, culinary items, crafts, and others, as it has always been through the years,” he said.

For film, Jamaica will be represented by 11 locally produced short films as well as one feature-length film by a Jamaican filmmaker.

“We have films from the Jamaica Film and Television Association , and we have films from the JCDC ‘FiWi Short Film Competition’, which happens each year. They have selected 11 short films as well as a film being done by a Jamaican filmmaker, Donisha Prendergast. That’s a feature length that’s going to be featured there,” Salmon stated.

“In terms of theatre, we have a show which really created some raves in Jamaica recently, ‘Barefoot Battalion’ by Patrick Brown, starring Glenn “Titus” Campbell and other regulars that people see on the stage at Jambiz. That one was specifically requested by CARICOM because of its subject matter because it deals with the evils of slavery and the demand for reparations. That’s going to be presented from the 28th to the 30th of August towards the end of CARIFESTA,” he added.

The closing ceremony will be held on August 31, which is also celebrated annually as International Day for People of African Descent.

“So, you can see the significance of why we chose to do it on the second weekend rather than the first, so we could raise people’s consciousness of the evils of slavery, the slave trade, and the demand for reparation. So that’s a significant event for us that’s going to happen,” Salmon informed.

The establishment of CARIFESTA was initiated by the Heads of Government of CARICOM in 1972 to celebrate the arts, foster a vision of Caribbean unity and positively advance Caribbean culture regionally and internationally.

With Prime Minister Andrew Holness as the sitting chair of CARICOM, Salmon highlighted the significance of Jamaica’s participation in the festival this year.

“CARIFESTA is a CARICOM activity, and being the current chair, we had to lend our support. That’s why we are going with this 100-strong delegation to make sure that there’s proper representation and to see to the success of CARIFESTA,” he said. (JIS/BT)