MEMBERS of the Kanuku Mountains Community Representative Group (KMCRG) in Region 9 (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) will hold their second annual Christmas fair at Lethem on Saturday.
The venue is the market at Lethem and the event can be considered a Rupununi Trade Fair.
The fair intends to showcase traditionally preserved foods, therapeutic preparations and handicraft, as well as products aimed at broader markets by applying modern techniques to process indigenous materials.
Individuals and groups from all parts of the Rupununi are expected to have on display a wide range of products from juices, dried and crystallised fruits, fruit leathers, fruit cheeses, jams, marmalades and jellies, to achar, pepper sauce, farine and cassava bread, and cured and dried meats as well as dairy products. Hand-made jewellery, ornaments & baskets will be available next to soaps, creams, herbal oils and tinctures.
The  objective of the organizers,  include encouragement and promotion of techniques and skills that help preserve locally available fruits, vegetables, herbs, meat and dairy products, to reduce wastage, promote improved quality, encourage product innovation, and stimulate positive attitudes to nutrition, a member of the KMCRG said yesterday.
Behi, a Voluntary  Services Overseas Guyana  (VSO) officer, who is assisting with the preparations for the event, said that the KMCRG comprises  community leaders from 11 Amerindian villages and seven satellite communities in the newly designated Kanuku Mountains Protected Area (KMPA) in the Central and South Rupununi.
The aim of the KMCRG is to support and uphold activities that promote better quality of life in the Rupununi, based on traditional values and conservation of the environment.

The members encourage and ensure the participation of community members in the management of natural resources and social development of their communities.
The 2011 Christmas Fair is being held in support of these objectives.
.Behi disclosed that the first such fair was held at Lethem in December, 2010
Winners of the competition held in 2010 received prizes such as blenders, scales, juicers, pressure pots and jam jars with lids.
The top winner in the Individual Category, Mrs Julita Fredricks, was awarded with attendance at a workshop at the prestigious Carnegie School of Home Economics, and the winning Group entry, Helping Hands Women’s Group of St Ignatius, won 500 labels designed and printed in their own brand.
Following the success of the 2010 fair  , and acting on the feedback received from participants and attendees, KMCRG decided that  the 2011 fair would be extended to include small items of craft as well as locally produced remedies, toiletries and cosmetics.
It was also decided that the event will no longer be called a Food Fair but a Christmas Fair, where articles available for sale would capture the festive mood.
The 2011 Fair will  be ‘Bigger and Better’, with a wider range of gifts on offer, including locally made handicraft, jewellery, cosmetics, soaps and natural products, as well as a fuller range of delicious foods and beverages, Behi said..
Additional features include a furniture auction in support of the Cary Elwes Woodwork Training Centre in St Ignatius, Rupununi.
These unique items of high quality furniture were made by the master woodwork instructor, Edwin Doyle, a British volunteer with VSO Guyana, who holds workshops for carpenters from communities in the Rupununi.
In keeping with the spirit of merit for effort and excellence, a number of competitions will be held with winners chosen by a panel of judges who will disburse prizes and awards to winning entries.
The KMCRG also hopes to add to the family atmosphere by providing games and a drawing competition for children.