THE Ministry of Education is promising a colourful, artistic display of dances and songs on the evening of May 25 at the Durban Park, to usher in Guyana’s Golden Jubilee.At the stroke of midnight on May 25th, 2016, the Golden Arrowhead will be hoisted for the fiftieth time. It will then be to celebrate Guyana’s Golden Jubilee of Independence anniversary. For many Guyanese, at home and abroad, this event will no doubt bring to remembrance the joy and gladness they felt when the Golden Arrowhead was hoisted for the very first time on May 26th, 1966.

Each year, on the eve of Guyana’s Independence, a flag-raising ceremony is usually held at the National Park; however, this year’s ceremony will take place at Durban Park on Homestretch Avenue. The event has a two-part programme that will commence at 20:00hrs. The cultural part of the programme, titled “A Patriotic Tribute”, is a colourful, artistic mass display of dances to patriotic and national songs, performed by 1000 young Guyanese. These participants represent the National School of Dance, religious groups, schools, regional choirs, steelbands, and those doing callisthenics.

The joint steel band will feature 100 players from the Buxton Pride steel band, the National Steel Orchestra, Pan Wave steel band, the Bishops’ High School Steel Band and the North Ruimveldt Multilateral Steel Band. The joint choir will comprise 130 students drawn from St. Stephen’s, St. Pius, Comenius, Sophia, East La Penitence, Winfer Gardens, Friendship, Strathsphey, and Paradise Primary schools; Woodside Choir; West Demerara Secondary, Annandale Secondary, Golden Grove Secondary, St. Stanislaus College, St Joseph’s High, and Central High. There will also be 30 drummers from the Otishka and Dubraj tassa groups.

The ceremonial component will include a joint military band display; military parade; announcement of National Awards and citations; address by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Guyana, Brigadier David Granger; hoisting of the Golden Arrowhead, and a fireworks display by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

The flag-raising ceremony is in keeping with the theme of the Golden Jubilee of Independence celebrations: “Reflect, Celebrate, Inspire”.

Float parade
Plans for the float parade, to be held on Independence Day itself, are moving apace, according to Mr Lennox Canterbury, Special Projects Officer in the Ministry of Education’s Department of Culture, but some registration forms are still outstanding. He said there are about 20 in hand, but before the end of the week, about 10 or 12 more are expected. Canterbury said all the ministries and all the regions are participating; and several private companies, including Digicel Guyana and a former National Service Unit, are also participating.

He explained that, so far, the Department has gone through the Jubilee Independence Float Parade Route with utility companies such as the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, E-Networks, and the Guyana Power and Light Inc., and has rectified the issue of low-hanging utility wires, while the streets for the float parade route, including Brickdam, have been resurfaced by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.

VENDORS TO BE ACCREDITED
Canterbury said the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is solely responsible for managing the parapets along the parade route, and vending will be regulated, so he is urging interested persons to visit the Culture Department’s head office in Main Street to get registered and be accredited for vending. Vendors not accredited will not be allowed to sell along the float parade route.

He disclosed that the official Float Parade will begin at Camp and Church streets and proceed west along Church Street, south into Avenue of the Republic, then east into Brickdam to Jubilee Stadium. Traditionally, the float parade was held on Mashramani Day, February 23, but because of the celebration of the 50th Independence Anniversary, it was shifted this year to coincide with the other special activities.

Canterbury said since the route that has been earmarked is a new one, logistics are to be put in place; but it is nothing that cannot be dealt with, and the Department has been ironing this out by ensuring safety first while involving the utility companies in securing the wires.
Canterbury thinks the change was good in terms of the new location, since the National Park could only have accommodated a limited number of persons. However, there are wide open spaces at Durban Park which can accommodate even more people this year.

Participants are being urged to submit the registration forms which will indicate their participation, and by the end of the week, the Department would know how many entities would be participating in the float parade.