–in spite of Sunday’s unexpected deluge

LATE afternoon into evening showers did not do much to dampen the jiving atmosphere at the Promenade Gardens on Sunday, as Curl Fete Natural Hair and Beauty Expo celebrated yet another successful year of hair, beauty, and so much more, as hundreds flocked to the event.

Notwithstanding their displeasure at the rain, and a suggestion by some for the organisers to begin considering a change of venue even, the event saw a huge turnout from its target audience of young women with natural hair.

True to the aim of the event to be an environment for ‘naturalistas (black women who rock their natural hair instead of perming)’, many of the black young ladies took the opportunity of getting creative with their natural hair, complementing their looks at times with exotic outfits and “on fleek” makeup.

However, over the years, the ‘Expo’, which celebrated its fourth annual edition this year, has become a place for all hair types and races to showcase and celebrate their hair and beauty. There were quite a few first-timers among the crowd. For some, the event did not live up to expectations, but their spirits to return was not dampened.

After getting caught up in the hype leading up to the event, 17-year-old Aaliyah Gilkes thought it was time she checked out for herself just what this Curl Fete was all about. What she got fizzled a little below expectations.

“To be honest, because of the rain, I didn’t get to enjoy myself properly,” Aaliyah said. “I came out around 4-something, and the rain started around the same time. The rain fall, so I was stuck at one place all the time, so I didn’t really get to check out anything.”

NO MORE PERM

Rocking an Afro puff, Gilkes says she had been wearing her natural some two years now, and swears she’s never going back to a perm. Notwithstanding her first experience at Curl Fete, she says she’ll be coming again, and is inspired by what the event represents for natural-hair black girls.

“I never really got the chance to enjoy my natural hair, because my mom relaxed my hair since I was six, and I always wanted my hair natural. So I finally cut off all my hair and went natural. I love it. I will never relax my hair ever again. I think Curl Fete is great, because it encourages persons to go natural. It helps persons who want to do the big chop to go forward and start that journey,” Gilkes said.

Another first-timer was 18-year-old Bartican, Cheyenne Jordan, also rocking her natural coils and kinks. She recently transitioned, and came out looking for deals on products. She, too, wasn’t too pleased with what she got when she came out, but looks forward to continuing to support the event.

“I’m not originally from Georgetown, so now that I’m living in Georgetown, this is my first year here,” Jordan said.

“I started transitioning last year July, so I just wanted to explore and see what Curl Fete is like. But, no! It didn’t really live up to my expectations. I came late, one, and then the weather was bad. It’s a really nice event, but the weather just wasn’t good. I braved the weather because I’ve been told they have a nice fashion show I wanted to see. For sure, I will be coming back next year, but earlier next time,” she added.

Second-timer Teria Garrett, of Eccles, had full praise for the event. Compared to her last-year experience, she says, hands down, it was a bigger, better one. She was one of the few people who thought maybe it was time for a change of venue.

“It’s way better this year. Comparing the booths, there were more booths and lots to see. They are improving, but one major factor is every year rain falls, and I think maybe they need to change the venue. I cashed in on the natural-hair booths; that’s all about the curly hair and natural hair products. I think this is a great idea, and they should continue with every year being bigger and better,” Garrett said.

Among the booths of the day was “Hair Plus Beauty Salon” which retails in weaves, hair products and clothing. While the store deals in straight-hair wigs, they took the opportunity at Curl Fete to display and give out deals on their ‘coily’ and kinky-textured wigs.

EVERYTHING HAIR
“We do everything hair and beauty salon related. We do everything for all types of hair, and today we had a lot of wigs on display. Every day you see the straights, so today we had strictly curls on display. We had the Afro curls; Jherri curls; body-wave curls; wigs with different colours and everything. We had slashed prices giving back to our customers; we just sell out everything, because these wigs sell themselves.

And once you’re good, your customers follow you,” shared Suenanta, one of the business’ managers. She, too, was happy for the environment the event creates for natural-hair girls, and her business.
“This is the biggest show that Guyana has ever put on that is positive in terms of persons showcasing their natural hair. And everybody get to wear and feel confident about themselves. You get to be yourself; you get to showcase how you feel, and I think it can only get better and better,” Suenanta said.

But the day wasn’t all about hair and beauty, and while some booths catered specifically to natural hair, others were there to take advantage of the vibrant crowd to market their products.

Sueria Manufacturing Inc. was out for a second year at the Curl Fete, and while they were pushing their Daily’s Cocktails last year, this year they chose to take advantage of the large number of young ladies to promote their Sleepy brand of products.
“Swank Tank”, a new business that started earlier this year, took the opportunity to promote its brand.

“Swank Tank is fairly new. We launched in August, so we couldn’t miss the opportunity for persons to really get to know about the business. And so far for today, we achieved that. “Swank Tank” is a beverages bar. We do quenchers, snow cones, slushies, milkshakes and smoothies. The items were well received, especially the slushies” shared co-owner Monique Springer.

“It’s been really good,” she said, “and we’re just hoping to grow from here. This event is a stepping stone to something much bigger. The exposure has been really good for us. A lot of people who didn’t know about us were finding out stuff. We’re currently located outside of the Big Kahuna at Giftland.”

In addition to the booths, patrons at the event were also treated to a number of staged activities, including a fashion show; hair ‘expo’ competition; the live panel discussion; cultural presentations, and several giveaways.