— The renowned natural hair and beauty expo makes official 2022 comeback and launches award in memory of late co-founder

CREATED with the purpose to empower women and girls to embrace the uniqueness of their naturally textured hair, nurture conversations on self-confidence and celebrate the joy of caring for kinky and curly hair while aiming to eliminate stereotypes surrounding natural hair, Curl Fete 2022 is set to make an epic and highly anticipated return on October 1, 2022 at the Promenade Gardens (Georgetown) after a two-year hiatus.

Recognised as one of the largest curated annual natural hair, beauty and wellness exhibitions in the Caribbean, Curl Fete guarantees sheer excitement, positive energy and high spirits as it brings together hair and beauty enthusiasts in a diverse and inclusive space to engage with a variety of brands on display by dozens of entrepreneurs.

Another crucial component of Curl Fete is that it provides rich education on cultivating a culture of self-expression grounded on women and girls boldly navigating their individual hair journeys while persistently overcoming daily societal challenges, particularly in relation to their appearance. At the same time, the event ensures access to the necessary resources they need to positively impact their businesses and lives.

“Curl Fete is a sea of beautiful, incredibly diverse Guyanese women, men and children proudly rocking afros, braids, cornrows, locs, curls and kinks of all shades and textures. The setting is garden chic with crisp white vendor tents serving as the canvases of bold colourful tradeshow branding and the people hold nothing back when it comes to their sartorial fashion choices, some even coordinating matching, custom-made ‘fits’ in groups,” explained 35-year-old Tamika Henry-Fraser, who is the co-founder of Curl Fete.

She initially founded Curl Fete as a result of her own personal experience and disclosed that the event has evolved to become a dynamic social movement for the growing natural hair community across Guyana as well as a platform for entrepreneurs to advertise and market their brands and build an extensive loyal customer-base.

“An eye-opening experience while competing in Miss Universe led me to doing the ‘big chop’ and starting my personal natural hair journey,” noted Henry-Fraser before indicating: “As a result of the challenges that followed that decision, including stereotypical comments that I experienced and the limited access to information and products specifically designed for my hair texture, Curl Fete was started in 2016.”

Launch of the Denisha Victor Award
This year, the Curl Fete team launched the Denisha Victor Award to honour the memory of the late co-founder of Curl Fete who passed away in 2020. Victor’s passing has left a heartbreaking void within the Curl Fete community, so to honour her legacy, the award was introduced. One lucky young Guyanese entrepreneur will receive the award that provides them with the opportunity to develop their small business through coaching, a Curl Fete exhibition booth and cash prize.

“Denisha was my business partner, and more importantly, a friend who I had known since childhood. She loved Curl Fete and immediately saw it as an opportunity to help many young entrepreneurs. This was one of her biggest passions, so much so that she even studied it to become academically qualified in the field of Business Management and Innovative Entrepreneurship,” reflected Henry-Fraser.

She continued to share that the late Victor had won several awards that included exceptionally managing her own small businesses while working a fulltime job and being engaged in community service work. As such, the team felt compelled to commemorate the valuable legacy she left behind as an example for young business owners.

Natural Hair Extravaganza
Those who make their way to Curl Fete 2022 will experience an impressive line-up of activities. These activities will spotlight beauty, fashion, cosmetics, food and beverage, health and wellness, traditions and culture and tons more. Henry-Fraser revealed that during this year’s event, there will be: a BiP Scavenger Hunt to locate vendors at the exhibition; an explosive Carol’s Daughter Hair Show that will see salons competing to win $300,000 and a segment where one lucky lady will be the ‘Big Chop girl’ and get a makeover from Glamour Beauty Shea Moisture.

There is also a new section for children adorned with bouncy castles from Haliborange and sample products from Nutribom and giveaways from brands such as Jergens, Biore, Ammens, Kotex, Jamieson and Modern Jewelry.

In addition to this, the Curl Fete 2022 experience will include expert-led workshop sessions such as Yoga on the Lawn that will feature a panel discussion with mental health professionals and a look at women’s sexuality and taboos surrounding female genitalia.

Patrons attending the upcoming event can also look forward to discussions on management and care for different textured types as well as beard and haircare for men and a presentation on acne and scarring from Bio Oil with renowned Dermatologist Dr Heather Morris-Wilson. Additionally, Itel CX will be hosting a recruitment drive to offer employment to young people and there will be a dance competition to the ‘Girls with Curls’ theme song and even curly dogs on display.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work
Henry-Fraser emphasised that to successfully execute annual Curl Fete events involved organising the team into different committees. Each team comprises of experts with backgrounds in public relations, science, banking, healthcare, marketing, carpentry and hospitality. The teams are able are able to provide key support in areas such as public relations, vendors, entertainment, décor, content production and security, to name but a few.

“I am incredibly proud of the team of young people that make up the Curl Fete family, who are committed to giving back to our community, as much as they are invested in creating a one-of-a-kind event,” she noted before stating: “Our approach to planning and leadership is collaborative and decisive at the same time. One of my favourite things about the team is our willingness to take risks in planning and advertising Curl Fete, in ways that are not typically done.”

For the Curl Fete team, the progress made throughout the years signifies a shared commitment amongst the members toward continuously accomplishing new goals and overcoming countless obstacles meant to act as hindrances. These included striving to dismiss narratives on the event being ‘just another party or trade show’ and taking action against the issue of sexism and society’s unrealistic expectations of women in order to showcase Curl Fete as creatively unique and professionally run trade show.

Curl Fete has garnered multiple achievements over time that acknowledges its instrumental role in developing small businesses, particularly through the vendor’s programme and it continues to support the development of medium and large-scale. Among Curl Fete’s accolades include being awarded the Small Business Bureau’s Business of the Year award in 2020, a feature in ZiNG in-flight magazine across the Caribbean and general recognition for helping to reshape public perspectives on natural hair. Henry-Fraser shared that herself along with the late Victor were once recognised as Top 40 Under-40 Entrepreneurs in Guyana and she was also a part of the inaugural class of the Top 25 Influential Women Leaders.

Presently, the pre-sold tickets cost $1000 GY but $1500 GY at the gate and children below the age of three are free. The ticket locations are Koko, HJ Box Office, Makeda, Pawsome Pets and Purple Clover (Georgetown), New Level Barbershop & Salon in Bristol Mall (New Amsterdam) and Chicken’s Stag Bar in Mackenzie and Sister to Sister’s Salon in Amelia’s Ward (Linden). Patrons can also order tickets for delivery by Trace’s Taxi and Transportation Services on telephone number +592 219-7172 or +592 680-7482.

The Essence of Life
With a background in Chemistry coupled with the aim to expand the Curl Fete brand, Henry-Fraser is currently in the research and development (R&D) phase for creating a haircare and beauty product line. She is also optimistic about hosting a pop-up Curl Fete event across Guyana and the communities Bartica, New Amsterdam, Linden and Lethem have already been identified that will ultimately enhance the exhibition and create additional opportunities for local entrepreneurs especially women-owned businesses to make a name for themselves. After all, she states: “A self-earning woman is often an empowered woman.”
The team recently launched a new podcast called ‘Curlversations’ that is streamed on Digicel’s GoLoud platform and in due time, the website www.curlfetexpo.com will be available.