Guyana’s 41st Republic Anniversary celebration Saturday evening culminated with an award ceremony at the Umana Yana to honour the participants of the various competitions held throughout the country last month in commemoration of this significant milestone.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, in his remarks prior to the presentation of awards, described the competitions as “an outpouring of creativity” by the various regions and designers that came together on the road to allow Guyanese to celebrate Mash 2011 in a very vibrant and dynamic way.
“Without your participation, Mash would not have been the tremendous success that it was,” he said.
Preparations for the event began since August 2010 through the formation of the Central Mash Committee, whose members, along with the regional sub-committees, spearheaded the planning of the competitions and ceremonies under the theme, “Showcasing our culture; sustaining our pride”, submitted by Marcia Washington, a Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara resident.
There has also been marked improvement in the quality of the calypsos, and the 10 top songs will be recorded on a CD by the end of this month, a legacy of Mash 2011 as well as for archival purposes.
Minister Anthony said that one of the decisions that was taken during the preparation was to allow one of the junior singers to enter the senior competition. This he said, has caused a tremendous upsurge in interest and has “shaken up” the way that the adult competition was traditionally done.
Prizes were awarded for the steel pan, children’s costume, chutney, calypso, bright-up Guyana, and costume and float competitions.
This year the prize for Road March King was copped by Mahendra Ramkellawan, while Suchitra Fiona Singh was named Chutney Monarch. The health song calypso competition was won by Tennicia De Freitas, while Lester ‘De Professor’ Charles was named the adult calypso monarch.
The Culture Ministry won the best costume prize in the non-commercial category, while the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated copped the same prize in the commercial category.
Best animal-drawn parade was won by John ‘Slingshot’ Drepaul.
The Local Government Ministry won the prize for the best costume and float in the large category, and the Designer of the Year Award went to Olympia Small-Sonaram.
There was a tie between the Culture Ministry and Digicel Guyana in the Mash King category. However, the latter copped the wining prizes for both the male and female groups in the individual category.     (GINA)