By Mark McGowan
In just about two months’ time Guyana will host Carifesta X — the tenth gathering of the Caribbean Festival of Creative Arts. As the event draws nearer, there seems to be enough of talk about it to indicate that Guyanese are aware of the upcoming affair. The theme song, for example, has proven to be quite a hit, as even the very young can be heard singing along with Ancell Boston: “Caareeeee…Caareeee … festival.”
Yet, in spite of an obvious awareness among Guyanese, there is a clear lack of excitement. One would expect that an event hailed as “the region’s roving multidisciplinary mega arts festival” as it is described on the official Carifesta website, would have the entire nation energised and excited, but sadly, this is not the case.
This cannot be attributed to a lack of effort by the organizers. Over the past few weeks, the Guyanese audience has been bombarded by various advertisements on television, the countdown of days to Carifesta in at least one daily newspaper and by the almost daily broadcasting of national songs on the radio. Sadly, rather than inspire and excite people, these efforts have served more to bore and annoy the populace. Recently some folks suggested that the television ads for Carifesta are among the most unimaginative they have ever come across. For those who have not passed judgement on the entire ad campaign it may very well be worth the effort to apply a more critical view from now on.
Poor ads apart, there are several reasons for the apparent lack of enthusiasm about the upcoming event. Of course, there are the economic and social hardships that Guyanese are currently experiencing, particularly with regard to the rising cost of living and the security fears that exist in the nation. These in themselves are a significant distraction.
However, one of the major reasons for the lack of excitement is simply that Guyanese just do not know what to expect in August. For one thing, the organizers keep emphasising that there will be an influx of tourists coming for the event which will present several business opportunities for Guyanese. But this is something which Guyanese are wary of especially after the disappointing experiences of last year’s Cricket World Cup.
Also, the general impression seems to be that Carifesta is one huge dance and music festival, with the occasional artistic and other cultural displays. The event, which incidentally is being conducted under the theme “One Caribbean, One Purpose – Our Culture Our Life” is much more than that and the Guyanese public needs to be made aware of this. It is a celebration of the Caribbean’s talents and skills — musical, artistic, literary, and culinary among others.
The occasion would also allow for the celebration of several of the Caribbean’s leading figures. Among the expected guests is Derek Walcott, the 1992 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature. His visit should be very interesting especially since it comes so soon after his bitter attack on the other Caribbean Nobel Prize winner for Literature, VS Naipaul, who captured the prestigious prize in 2001. As an aside, wouldn’t it be most interesting if by some miracle the organizers were able to convince Naipaul to come as well? The literary sparring between the two would be most interesting. Anyhow, as I mentioned before, this is just an aside.
Of course, there are several other practical reasons, which would explain the general lack of excitement of Guyanese in regarding Carifesta. Whatever they are though, it is disappointing since the event really is a means of giving just recognition to our Caribbean heritage. This is the second occasion Guyana will be hosting the event, coming 36 years after the initial festival in 1972. Consequently, this has been hailed by some as a sort of homecoming — a return to the place where it all started. Guyana was not even scheduled to host this year’s event but opted to take it over after the Bahamas found itself in a position where it could no longer do so as scheduled. Therefore Guyana has risen to become the Saviour of Carifesta X so to speak, coming to the rescue of its own child one may even want to add.
These are early days still (well considering the last minute culture of Guyanese and the wider Caribbean) and there is still the possibility that excitement for Carifesta may increase in time. The event has all the characteristics to be a real spectacle. We should all hope that Carifesta X is not a major flop.
(alastair23@yahoo.com)
