THE countdown to Mashramani 2013 officially began with Friday evening’s launching of official activities under the theme “Reflecting Creativity, Embracing Diversity.” Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Dr. Frank Anthony said in his feature address to launch activities that Mash 2013 is a good opportunity for persons in the creative sector to showcase their businesses and get support from Guyanese citizens.

He said that Mashramani is a festival that promotes Guyanese pride and patriotism, and it is the festival which perhaps brings the most Guyanese people out on the streets at any one time.

He pointed out that people sometimes take this fact for granted, but for the companies that would help promote the activity through sponsorship, it is a wonderful opportunity to market their products to this large Guyanese audience.

Mash is not only about the spectators who are there, according to Minister Anthony, but is perhaps the largest festival where so many creative people come together, including musicians, singers, designers and many others.

“They all come together to make this perhaps the greatest festival of Guyana’s creativity. When we celebrate on February 23rd …we are actually coming together to celebrate Guyanese creativity,” he stressed.

Dr. Anthony noted that the creative sector has been a major contributor to the economies in many developed countries around the world, and in some cases contribute as much as 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of those countries.

“We can start making that difference here, and Mashramani offers us that opportunity (to make) that difference,” he said.
He related that Mash also affords Guyanese musicians opportunity to produce new content. For each year of the past six years, more than 100 songs have been produced just for Mash.
These songs, he advised, were produced for events such as the Soca Monarch, Chutney Monarch, Calypso Monarch and the Health Song Competitions.

“So when I say that Mashramani contributes in a very significant way to our culture and the development of Guyanese culture, that is what I’m talking about. We can look at different sectors, whether it’s in steel band, whether it’s in the designs of costumes, and in almost all the spheres you can see the same impact being replicated,” the minister added.

He outlined plans for next year, and noted that while the ministry was hoping to keep most of the traditional elements associated with Mashramani, there will also be a few changes and new additions.

For instance, he advised that some singers from Suriname will be participating in the Chutney Monarch Competition.

Additionally, he revealed that the ministry is also planning to introduce a traditional drumming competition which would help to sustain the art of drumming in the country.
Commencing from December, there will be an international conference held by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with the Guyana Cultural Association in New York. Dr Anthony said he is hopeful that workshops can re-energize people to become more involved in masquerade bands.
The ministry is planning to make the Mash Day parade even bigger next year than in previous years. However, this is only possible if the private sector, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and religious organisations participate in events and activities.

“The parade is as good as we, the organisations that participate in it, make it; and therefore I am appealing to people to come out and make this a big and wonderful parade,” he urged.

The minister added that Guyana will be celebrating two important milestones next year: 250 years since the Berbice Slave Revolution, and 175 years since East Indians arrived in Guyana.

He challenged some of the companies participating in Mash 2013 to reflect on these milestones in their floats.

“I want to challenge you for us to make our parade next year not just only fun, but educational as well, so we can use it to teach this generation about our heritage and about our history.”

Dr. Anthony revealed that the Central Mashramani Committee has been working on creating a calendar of events for Mash next year, and this calendar is expected to be released in December. He added that another thing they are working on is creating a “Season Pass” which persons can use to access all Mash events.
Meanwhile, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG), Al Creighton, also used the opportunity to launch his book ‘Mash: Its Origin and Development”.

At the event, he dedicated this book to the Government of Guyana, and distributed copies to Dr. Frank Anthony and Private Sector Commission member Mr. Gerald Gouveia, among others.