WINNERS of the various Mashramani 2013 competitions that were staged under the theme ‘Reflecting Creativity, Embracing Diversity’ received their prizes at a ceremony at the Umana Yana on Friday.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony congratulated all the winners for their performances and support in making the celebrations for the 43rd Republic Anniversary a great success.
He recollected on the activities that were held during February to celebrate Mash  including the lectures, exhibition at the Guyana National Museum with emphasis on the Berbice Slave Rebellion, art exhibition at Castellani House, the annual Chutney, Soca and Calypso competitions and the children’s and adult road marches.
Dr Anthony emphasised that while much was achieved during the celebrations, there is still a lot to be done. He noted that later in the year a study will be commissioned to determine how the Mash celebrations can be improved. In Trinidad and Tobago there is legislation that accommodates the carnival, and there is also a special committee that manages the festivities.
The minister indicated that for Guyana to go in that direction, the Mash model will have to be revamped so that better things could be done.
With regard to the song competitions, Dr Anthony noted that a lot of people take the competitions for granted. “This year we have had close to 107 songs that were created just for Mashramani.”  He explained that one of the things that has been lacking is that while these songs are being created very often a product is not made out of the music.
He illustrated that in Trinidad and Tobago people can buy CDs and DVDs with excerpts of the carnival so they have a product that comes after the event. “That product helps us to do a lot of things – one, popularise the music so that more people can get to know the songs and secondly it will give people an insight as to what is happening for the next year,” he said.
Due to the various reasons the local musicians sometimes have challenges in putting together that product, and over the next year, the ministry will work towards ensuring a timely product emerges after Mash.
“We have a long way to go, but we are optimistic because the competition is growing. More bands are participating, and that’s a very good sign,” the minister said. He recognised Republic Bank as a very good partner in the promotion and resuscitation of pan music.
The Culture Minister highlighted that the pan competition is outgrowing the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, and the planning committee for next year, will have to start looking for another venue.
The Ministry will also be looking at reintroducing the display of the king and queen costumes prior to the road parade. This aspect of the celebrations had stopped because of the last-minute touches the designers had to complete however, this year most of the band’s costumes were completed early.
“If we can keep that standard, then certainly next year we can look at re-introducing the night when we display the king and queen costumes… that’s something we will certainly take on board,” Minister Anthony said
This year there were 19 king and 24 queen costumes, a record over last year.

The Awardees
In the Children’s competition (Steelband), Detroy Dey, Michael Smith Jr. and Akeem Mohamed secured the first, second and third respectively in the junior solo. In the senior category, the winner was Ray Sparman, followed by Micahel smith Jr. and Omari Austin and Clayton Daniels in the third spot. Clayton Daniels and Ray Sparman copped first in the duet, followed by Jamal Johnson and Javir Marks in second and Akeem Mohamed and Don Johnson in third spot.
In the school bands competition, North Ruimveldt was the winner. Bishops High came second followed by Queen’s College while in the Church Bands category, St Andrew’s Kirk secured the first followed by Central Assemblies of God.
In the large bands, the Guyana Police Force took home the first prize and Parkside came second.
Sixteen Guyanese artistes entered the 2013 Chutney finals with Roger Hinds copping the top spot.  He was followed by Fiona Singh and Haresh Singh in second and third positions respectively.
In Calypso, Lester ‘De Professor’ Charles copped first place.
In the Soca Monarch competition Jumo ‘Rubber Waist’ Primo kept the Soca Monarch Crown with his hit song ‘Fireworks’ followed by Kwasi Edmondson and Adrian Dutchin respectively. Dutchin kept the road march title
Olympia Small-Sonaram was awarded designer of the year for pieces that included the first place Banks DIH queen costume.
The parade was a huge success as bands competed in the following category; costume and band parade-individual (king and queen, male and female), full and semi costume (large, medium and small), floats (commercial and non-commercial) and regional (full costume and individual) with depictions keeping in line with the theme.
Olympia Small-Sonaram was awarded designer of the year for pieces that included the first place Banks DIH queen costume.
The parade was a huge success as bands competed in the following categories; costume and band parade-individual (king and queen, male and female), full and semi costume (large, medium and small), floats (commercial and non-commercial) and regional (full costume and individual) with depictions keeping in line with the theme.
Digicel, Banks DIH Ltd and the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment copped the semi costume large category in the first, second and third spots respectively.
In the medium category, Slingshot gained first, Ministry of Agriculture second and Region Five, third. Apsara and Lux Entertainment topped the Small category.
For the Floats, in the non-commercial category, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport topped that position followed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and Region Six respectively.
The commercial category as won by Banks DIH Ltd  followed by  Apsara and Lux Entertainment in second
Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) dominated the Regional Full Costume category, followed by Regions Four (Demerara/Mahaica0 and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) respectively.
For the Individual Pieces, Region Three copped both king and queen while in the Non commercial category, Region Six emerged winner.
This year saw about 50 bands participating in the Children’s Mash Parade and included groups from the nursery, primary and secondary schools and Administrative Regions. There were also individual and other children’s organisations presentations.
In the nursery school category East Street, Selman Fraser, Happy Hearts and Head Start nursery schools copped the first, second, third and forth spots, respectively.
Winfer Gardens, Success Elementary, North Georgetown and St. Stephen’s primary schools placed first, second and third respectively.
For the second consecutive year, Diamond Secondary secured the top spot in the secondary category. They were followed by Cummings Lodge, Sophia Special School and Ascension secondary schools, respectively.
In the individual category Kawall, Chateau Margot and Ketley Primary Schools were awarded the first, second and third positions, while Monar Education Institute copped the fourth spot.
The Hinterland Scholarship Programme, National School of Dance, David Rose School for the Handicapped and Z-Bra Children’s Network were the top performers in the Other Children’s Organisations category.
With regards, to the regional presentations Regions, 3, 10, 8 and 2, gained the first, second, third and fourth positions, respectively.
Appreciation was extended to the sponsors of the celebrations including Banks DIH for co-sponsoring the calypso competition, Ansa McAl – Soca Monarch, GT&T – the Children’s Mash Parade, Republic Bank – Steel Pan competition, Mr. Looknauth Persaud from King’s Jewellery World – Chutney competition, Guy Enterprise and Impressions.