AS the curtain came down for the Guyana Festival, patrons were in high praise and support of the three- day event and kudos were belted out for the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA).

The Guyana festival was dubbed everything Guyanese and from the comments of participants, it can be determined that the committee did not stray from their mission.

ITA PALM
Speaking with an indigenous group, they told the Guyana Chronicle that they were happy to be included in the festival as they wanted for some years to be able to educate the public on the uses of the Ita Palm. Explaining that this palm is commonly called the ‘palm of life’ because every part of the palm can be used either for making ornaments, houses, clothing, ita oil for cooking or merely eating the fruit from the palm. The group indicated that they were skeptical about patrons coming out to an all Guyanese festival since some Guyanese are ‘foreign minded’ but from what they have seen the public was in full support of this event.
Meanwhile, the ‘Coconut Man’ as he is commonly called, related that he was excited to be part of the festival and congratulated the organisers on a well-planned event since it highlighted his business and now he is guaranteed an upsurge. He also noted that for small businesses like his, this festival was able to assist him in promoting not only his business but in making people more aware that there are businesses of this nature ‘out there.’
Michael Khan, known as ‘Ole Man Papi,’ during his storytelling educated patrons on the pork-knocker lamp that is years old, explaining that it used oil and can last for at least 90 minutes. Commenting on the Guyana Festival, he said that it has been long awaited and the need for something of this nature is not only for entertainment but also for showcasing to the world what Guyana has to offer. “We are a talented and a diverse group of people and the world needs to be aware of this,” he said.
Jacqueline Thomas, a Bartica resident travelled many miles from Region 7 with her entire family because they had heard so much talk about the Festival. “This is a spectacular festival. The family especially enjoyed the parachuting. I would tell everyone to come out and see for yourselves,” Ms. Thomas explained.
And Jomo ‘Rubber Waist’ Primo, Guyanese recording artiste, related that Guyana should thank the Minister of Tourism for this festival because our artistes were able to showcase themselves to the world. “I personally think Guyana Festival is a very good initiative. I think it’s really good for the local talent corps. I really hope they record and showcase this to the world so people can see the abundance of talent that Guyana has,” he said.
Former West Indian cricketer, Mahendra Nagamootoo and brother Vishal Nagamootoo said that they were very happy when approached to play in the Festival cricket match and saw it as an opportunity to be able to give back to their country. “It’s great, I think the festival is wonderful, the turnout, everything is great. All in all, I think the Minister and his team did a really good job setting up the event, it’s really great,” Mahendra said. Both cricketers explained also that they would like to have this as an annual event but in different parts of the country like Albion in Berbice.
It was the general opinion of the participants that the Guyana Festival like the Building Expo and GuyExpo will be able to give recognition to the Guyanese people for all aspects of business and tourism. It will therefore be able to open more doors for Guyana’s development. The call for the Guyana Festival to be an annual event was reiterated among a cross-section of patrons and participants.

(By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)