THE 11th edition of the Caribbean Festival of the Arts (CARIFESTA) on Sunday evening came to a close at the Independence Square in Paramaribo, Suriname, with a grand event filled with cultural performances from participating countries and graced by the presence of various prominent officials.

The closing ceremony saw the venue being filled to capacity with persons eager to get a peek at the cultural performances of participating countries such as Guyana, Suriname, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
With a segment called “We are doing it together”, the various participating countries pooled their talent in collaborative performances in areas such as singing, dancing and other artistic expressions.
There were also performances from the police and military bands from Suriname, with renditions of Bob Marley songs such as “One Love” and “I Wanna Love You”, and highlights from the festival were shown on two screens on either side of the main stage.
Delivering remarks at the ceremony, the President of the Republic of Suriname, Desire Bouterse, said that the celebration of culture has indeed shown who we are as a region and what we have, and we are once again reminded that nurturing our culture is key to our development.
“It is only when we know ourselves, respect ourselves and feel deep pride for our cultural world that we can charter with confidence our path in the world, connecting to the brothers and sisters in the Region,” he said.
According to him, the festival was filled with passionate movements, rhythmic beats, stunning images, among other things.
“In the past few days we have witnessed a dazzling opening show, we saw people from different cultures, countries and regions dancing together, enjoying the beat of different drums, exchanging multi-media experiences and learning new forms of art,” he stated.
The Suriname President boldly stated: “We are connected, we are one”, adding that moments such as these made him proud to be the President of the host country.
Meanwhile, the President took the opportunity to say that he already looks forward to the next CARIFESTA which will be hosted in Haiti in 2015, and he handed over the baton to organise and host the festival to Haitian President, Michel Martelly.
He noted that this is the first time in the history of CARIFESTA that the responsibility of organising the festival has been transferred through the hands of one CARICOM President to those of another.
President Martelly took the opportunity to congratulate President Bouterse and all the people of Suriname for all the work they have done to successfully host CARIFESTA XI.
He assured that there is space in Haiti for everyone for the next CARIFESTA, and even jokingly said that if there is not enough space, the people of Haiti will leave to provide that space.
CARIFESTA XI was held from August 16-25 under the theme “Culture for development: Celebrating our diversity and promoting the central role of culture in economic, social and human development.”
During this period the cultural diversity of over 30 countries was on display at various venues across Paramaribo, with a wide variety of activities including a grand cultural market which encompassed areas such as visual arts, literary arts, fashion, story-telling and culinary arts.
Other areas included a trade fair, performing arts, theatre, dance, music, symposia, community festivals, youth focus, craft, and a film festival.