IslandMix

The Bahamas bids adieu to Trinidad

By Betty Vedrine, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter

betty@nasguard.com

It was supposed to be an event where the peoples of the Caribbean, Latin America and Spain would be able to celebrate their cultures and contest the world stage.

It was projected to be the biggest event to hit the region this year. It was also supposed to follow an updated model that would not permit the mediocrity of past festivals. But Carifesta IX, staged in Trinidad and Tobago, September 23 - October 2, failed to live up to any of these expectations.

"What happened in Trinidad confirms what happens when too many political interests are involved in culture. Unfortunately, Carifesta IX was caught in the middle and people were not able to focus the type of attention needed to ensure the success of the event," explained Bethel. "We have to ensure that we learn from the mistakes made by Trinidad when we host in 2008," she continued.

From the beginning the event was marred with challenges. As the Bahamian contingent made its way to Trinidad and Tobago to participate in the festival, it was evident that Trinidad had failed to plan the event properly. The journey to Trinidad was pleasant and the welcome at the airport by Trinidadian Carifesta personnel was warm and gracious but the introduction to the festival was anything but dynamic.

For a country that annually hosts the most successful festival, Carnival, in the region, Trinidad and Tobago failed to capture that same dynamism in Carifesta. Political interference, poor planning and lack of support from the private sector seem to plague the event from its inception. As one rode through Port of Spain, it became clear that Carifesta did not take centre stage in Trinidad and Tobago. In fact, many Trinbagonians, including hotel personnel, knew nothing of the event. Over 1200 contingent members were faced with limited accommodations, poor communications among festival officials, disappointing turnout at the events and little or no marketing for the event. To add insult to injury (although through no fault of their own), the country was rocked by an earthquake registering 5.5 on the Richter scale one week into the event. Despite these issues, however, The Bahamas contingent did their best to showcase their country and ended up shining in Trinidad and Tobago.

"There is a new model for Carifesta which contingents were to follow to ensure that mediocrity wasn't the standard. The Bahamas was successful because we followed the model. I believe that we were able to capture the essence of Carifesta better than anyone else because of our attention to detail and our professionalism," explained Dr. Nicolette Bethel, Director of Cultural Affairs.

A festival of this magnitude has huge economic potential, yet, Trinidad and Tobago failed to tap into this economic power house. The lack of marketing and merchandising seem to suggest that little was done to take advantage of this opportunity. During the entire event, contingent members were bombarded with questions surrounding the event. What happened to the Carifesta secretariat? In addition, both opening and closing ceremonies were disappointing. Many important components such as a big screen projector, a master of ceremonies to announce the arrival of the participating countries on the field and tight security to manage seating were missing. Moreover, The Hasely Crawford stadium, with a seating capacity of 10,000 or more, was only a little over half-way full for the opening ceremony and a third full for the closing ceremony. Where were the people? Both ceremonies lacked creativity, organisation and coordination.

While participating contingents tried their best to maintain their momentum, the Trinidadian contingent quickly fizzled out, disappointing the crowd with their reserved demeanour. For a country synonymous with excitement (Carnival), the performers failed to display the dynamism for which they are known. The only saving grace at the opening ceremony was a powerful performance of 'Missing Generation' by Ella Andall, who managed to cause a temporary depart from the disorganised event.

Although most of the contingent was not able to travel to Tobago, those who went said that their experience there was better than that in Trinidad. In fact, the Junkanoo group that participated was able to assist the dancers in Tobago. "Apparently, there was a dance performance in Tobago that requires the use of drummers. The Tobagonian drummers, however, had to go over to Trinidad to perform, so the Bahamian drummers volunteered to assist. They learnt the rhythm and were able to accompany the Tobagonian dancers on stage. It's this type of cultural exchange that is the essence of Carifesta," said Bethel.

After ten days of activities, Carifesta is over. That is, until 2008, when The Bahamas is slated to host the event. With the participation and involvement of every Bahamian, hopefully, The Bahamas will shine in 2008. "The only way that we will achieve success when we host this event, is to plan it properly," said Bethel. "We will have to put all political and personal aspirations aside to ensure the success of Carifesta X in 2008. Everyone will have to come together as a community so that we can make our country proud."

These types of Regional Cultural Events should be staged only where the people have an infrastructure to deal with and cater for tourists.......and where the local population is grateful for an influx of strangers.

Carifesta sucked with advertising..nobody really knew what was going on when... 2 weeks before the event they now callin people out for auditions and to learn pieces in a week... Shit!!! i swear TnT is de worst with these things.... no proper coordination was done...They booking you for a show in Tobago at one hour.. another hour later yuh carded for Trinidad...please!!

I hope the Bahamas really gets this thing going... This could have done soo much better and helped a lot of the little guesthouses and biz..esp here in Tobago.. but nobody went to them to include them in anything... had people shuffling in and out ah de place...