–tonight at Theatre Guild

THE annual Rupununi Music and Arts Festival starts tonight at the Theatre Guild, and ends tomorrow. The team is bringing a slice of paradise to the city to sell the experience of Rupununi in the city.

It is expected to be exciting, entertaining, fun-filled and affordable.

The theatre will be buzzing, both inside and outside, with good food, sounds and smells, laughter and lights with music, dance, spoken word and comedy, art and craft and much more, as the Rupununi Music & Arts Festival comes to Georgetown for its second festival event, GT2.

Festival Director, Dr. Bob Ramdhani MBE, said that this year they brought the festival to Georgetown in efforts to bring awareness of their plans for next year.

“Including Georgetown in the Rupununi Music & Arts Festival programming has been integral to the festival’s strategic plan since inception, and so November 22 & 23 is the second of many events that will staged in Georgetown in the coming years. These Georgetown Connect on events will provide a slice of what you can expect when you join us in November 2020 (13-15) in the Rupununi at Manari Ranch,” he said.

International confirmed artistes include Semi (Reggae quartet from St. Lucia); Iryna Muha and Rob Rosa (folk and funk from Ukraine/UK); Kairi Kaiso (‘old time’ calypso, T &T); David Frank (funky violinist from T&T); Maya (jazz vibes from Suriname); and a dynamic range of local entertainers, including Gavin and Hucky (Folk); Vanilla (Soca); Herbie Marshall (Guitar); Calibro Band (Indigenous + Forró); and Young Bill Rogers (Kaiso/Chutney).

Marva Newton, who performs calypso of yesteryear under the sobriquet ‘Kairi Kaiso’ will be accompanied by talented percussionist, James Fenton. They will also be joined by another independent ‘Trini’ solo performer, Tobago-born, David Frank.

Guyana, too, will present some of its best in music, spoken word, comedy and dance. There are many Guyanese artistes joining the Festival for the first time; Vanilla will have the house rocking for sure; Herbie Marshall will add his distinctive guitar flavours to the weekend; Ovid Williams will share Amerindians stories and festival favourites, Gavin & Chucky will ‘folk up’ the place Guyanese style, to complement the ‘old time ‘calypso renditions of Kairi Kaiso.

There will be some surprises as more artistes are expressing their interest in performing at the Festival.
The programme opens this evening with a mixture of local and international artistes and tomorrow, the action begins after lunch when there will be loads of interactive workshops to get everyone involved, including a ‘Masterclass in Jazz Guitar by Herbie Marshall’.

Children under 12 years of age will be admitted Free and there will be a range of food and arts & crafts stalls. A special feature of the GT2 will be the interactive “Talk Tent”.

Programmed for tomorrow afternoon include a small, intimate space, where the audience will be able to engage with some of the artistes directly, as they share their musical journeys.

Day passes are for $3,000 and a weekend pass for $5,000 and tickets are available at Zoon (Middle St & Giftland Mall) + Howard’s Restaurant (Eccles) + MovieTowne. (Call to reserve – 629-4535 / 626-9014)

The festival, including the Georgetown Connect, on events, is a genuine Government, private sector and NGO partnership and is supported by The Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Banks DIH Ltd, Trans Guyana Airways (TGA), Rent-a-Tent, Giftland Mall, Cara Lodge, Silverbait Design Inc., Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Air Services Ltd (ASL), University of Guyana, Theatre Guild, NCN, MovieTowne and others, who collectively help to make the event a very special treat.