— 21 countries already registered for the festival

PREPARATIONS for Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) XIV are in “high gear,” said Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly.

“We are now in the implementation stage… we spent a lot of time in the planning stage so that this would be running smoothly,” said Dr. Gadsby-Dolly in an invited comment.
CARIFESTA XIV, which is scheduled for August 16-25, 2019, is expected to attract participants from across CARICOM and, by extension, the Caribbean.

Minister Gadsby-Dolly said 21 countries, including the CARICOM member states and the associate states, have already registered for the festival of arts and culture.

“We anticipate full participation of the region… we have quite a lot of excitement building, delegations are already in touch with us in terms of the sizes of the delegation and so on… we anticipate full participation and a wonderful time for all,” she said.

Despite the anticipated outcome of the festival, there have been challenges which the Trinidadian Government has faced so far.

According to Gadsby-Dolly, like the challenges of the region, the Trinidadian Government has financial crunches at this time but, a lot of effort was placed into mitigating the problem during the planning stage.

During the planning stage, the government was able to look for economies of scale, partnerships where possible and corporate sponsorship which was also a challenge because the corporate society has their own issues which they are dealing with.
Delegations have also been moving slow on providing information because they too are grappling with financial realities.

Dr Gadsby-Dolly said the financial challenge is a real one which her ministry is dealing with and they have the support of the country and delegation.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and The Arts of Trinidad and Tobago, for more than four decades, CARIFESTA has been a catalyst for the strengthening of regional integration among Caribbean countries, artisans and cultural practitioners.

VITAL FORUM
The ministry said over the years, Caribbean nations have actively participated in the festival and used it as a tool to promote the arts and culture of their country.
The festival is, therefore, a launching pad for the Caribbean to take centre-stage; bringing rich, vibrant, thought-provoking and exhilarating expressions of talent and skill to the world.

“In Trinidad and Tobago, the creative and cultural sectors are an integral part of our economy. Thus, it is with vigour that the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, through the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, sought to bid for CARIFESTA and subsequently won the bid to host the fourteenth installment of CARIFESTA XIV in 2019,” said the ministry.

The country’s intention is to create the space, avenue and hub for participating nations to flourish and “connect, share, and invest” in the arts and culture of the Caribbean.
The 2019 festival will showcase a multi-talented cultural display in the visual and literary arts, storytelling, fashion, body art, craft, theatre, dance, music, film and news media from participating countries from the region and the diaspora.

The theme for this year’s Carifesta is “Connect, Share, Invest” which the Carifesta committee said focuses on both the tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage.
As the rest of the region prepares for the prestigious festival, Guyana has also been putting together a team.

Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton, said a memo was taken to Cabinet and it was noted.

“At this point, we are selecting the different participants… we have an idea of the areas we will participate in and we are getting there… we are looking at full participation,” said Dr. Norton.

He said some persons will be participating for the country and others will be participating in their private capacity.