THE 100 Guyanese who form the official Guyana contingent are getting ready to represent this country at the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) XIV which will be held from August 16 to 25, in Trinidad and Tobago.

Guyana’s Coordinator for CARIFESTA XIV Andrew Tyndall told this newspaper that preparation, particularly within the performing arts is well underway. “We’re looking forward to taking up the group and representing Guyana, and make all of Guyana proud at the festival,” Tyndall said, explaining that it is for this reason much emphasis is being placed on preparing all delegates.

“The major area of preparation would be in the performing arts, which covers dance, music and drama,” Tyndall explained. The rehearsals for the drama, dance and music cohorts, specifically, began weeks ago but the rehearsals for the Guyana Night presentation, which will feature the entire performing arts delegation, began on Sunday, July 14.

“We really look forward to that [Guyana Night] presentation because it is that presentation that looks at the festivals of Guyana and it paints a picture of the Guyanese society from the background of our festivals,” the coordinator said.

This ‘Guyana Night’ presentation, Tyndall said, will encompass and integrate displays of all of Guyana’s cultural and religious festivals with the aim of illustrating the cultural diversity the country boasts. A major aim of the Guyana Night presentation will also be to encourage Caribbean citizens and all attendees of Carifesta to visit the country to experience what Guyana has to offer, according to him.

But while this Guyana Night presentation is set to wow the crowd in Trinidad next month, Tyndall disclosed that the Department of Culture will be hosting a local presentation of that performance. “We would want persons to come out and get a taste of what we are carrying to CARIFESTA and see that we are taking the best of the best to represent Guyana at this cultural festival,” the coordinator highlighted. The date for this is yet to be finalised however.

Aside from the major Guyana Night presentation, the individual cohorts- whether dance, drama, music, visual arts, fashion, inter alia- will also have their individual days to perform and wow the CARIFESTA crowd. Of the lot, the coordinator mentioned that the Guyana Dance Company has already been working to ensure that their presentation at the ‘Decades of Dance’, which is the signature dance show at Carifesta, will not be easily forgotten. Preparation is well on its way for the National Steel Orchestra, Tyndall noted too.

On the administrative side of things, with exactly one month left before the Caribbean Festival commences, he related too that Guyana is nearly done with the accreditation process and will be looking to finalise travelling and accommodation arrangements.

While the official delegation stands at 100 persons, there will be several more persons heading to the Twin Island Republic from Guyana as artisans and independent performers in the performing arts, specifically. The theme for this year’s CARIFESTA is “Connect, Share, Invest,” which the Carifesta committee says focuses on both the tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage and development and seeks to embody and facilitate the objectives of CARIFESTA XIV. In the past, Guyana participated in the areas of Visual Arts, Literary Arts, Dance, Fashion, Music, Craft, Culinary Arts, Film/animation, and Drama.