THE Caribbean Festival of Arts, better known as CARIFESTA, got underway on Friday, August 16 in Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana has been making its mark since the very first day of the massive cultural event.

CARIFESTA XIV got underway with a ‘Parade of Nations’ where all 20 participating country delegations marched around Trinidad’s famous Queen’s Park Savannah, before heading inside the Savannah for the official opening ceremony. Here, the Guyanese delegation took over the streets of Trinidad by breaking out in an impromptu masquerade session and playing a few rounds of ‘Coloured Girl in the ring’ as the parade was marching along.
After that opening day, Guyana participated in almost every section of CARIFESTA, including Drama, Dance, Visual Arts, the Culinary Arts, the Literary Arts, Masquerade, Song, Fashion and Arts and Craft.

The showcases brought by Guyana in the various performing arts integrated the best of Guyanese culture, traditions and talent. And for the National Drama Company, the grand CARIFESTA platform was used to spotlight social topics like Domestic Violence, Unity and Environmental Conservation. There was also the National School of Music showing that while Trinidad might be the birthplace of steelpan, pan music has been growing (up) in Guyana.

Undoubtedly, however, the highlight of Guyana’s participation in CARIFESTA XIV was the Guyana Night presentation. As part of the 10-day festival, each country was given a night to showcase their culture and heritage. For Guyana’s country night, the 100-strong delegation put on a performance entitled “Guyana: A Year in a day”.

Through this performance, the delegation showed the festivals and celebrations observed in Guyana during every month of the year, including Mashramani, Phagwah, Easter, Emancipation, Indigenous Heritage, Eid and Christmas.

Here are a few photos that best tell the story of Guyana’s participation at CARIFESTA XIV.