There was resounding appreciation and praise from spectators who attended yesterday’s Children Mashramani Costume and Float Parade which made its way through several streets downtown before ending at the National Park.
Thousands lined the street and packed into the National Park to be a part of the annual spectacle, to enjoy the coming together of students and representatives from all 11 of Guyana’s educational districts, from the nursery to the secondary school level.

Onlookers say this year’s competition showed a marked improvement from the previous year as it was “much more organised”.
“Wonderful! Colourful! The children did well. To me this year is more colourful, and more children participated, the groups were large,” said, Wendy Wilson, who travelled all the way from Golden Grove, East Coast of Demerara, to the parade.
The aged Wendy was accompanied by a number of her grandchildren and boasted that she has been attending the event “since it started”.

Wendy had a hard time deciding which of the presentations or bands were her favourite, but the performance by Bishop’s High really struck a chord with her.
The National School of Dance and the Guyana Police Force “A” Division Youth Groups, Hinterland Scholarship Students, Mercy Wings Vocational Centre, and the David Rose School for the Handicapped Children were also part of the parade.
At least one patron was very much appreciative of the presentation by the differently-abled children.

“To me, the costumes looked better this year, more decorated. What really excited me though were the handicapped children, because I didn’t expect them to perform so good,” she said.
Veteran actor and comedian Henry Rodney, who has been part of the event for some time now, also contended this year’s parade was better than previous years.
“Impressive” was Rodney’s keyword to describe the displays he saw.
“There is an improvement of the costumes; we no longer see the flimsy costumes. The costumes are massive, they are grand, and you can read them. I could sit from this vantage point looking at the costumes and read it,” he said.

The parade marked the close of the children’s competition segment of the Mashramani festivities.
Beginning last Thursday, the varying school districts and their students have been contending in dance masquerade, calypso and dramatic poetry competitions.
The parade featured six categories, namely “Nursery School Bands”, “Primary School Bands”, “Secondary School Bands”, “Other Children’s Organisations”, “Individual Presentations”, and “Regional Presentations”.

Smyth Street Nursery, St Stephen’s Primary and Tutorial High School are the defending champions of the nursery, primary and secondary school categories, respectively, while the National School of Dance is the reigning “Other Children’s Organisations” winner and Region Four is the Regional Presentations champion.
Tabulation of the results from yesterday’s competition will be available the coming week.