By Nills Campbell
Thousands on the West Bank awaited with bated breath as word of Carifesta ‘72 filled the air. The jingle by Lord Canary ‘Carifesta ‘72; Carifesta I am inviting you to 23 days of music, frolic and fun’ dominated the airwaves and awakened the interest of thousands countrywide.
Words of the Brazilian singers and dancers had captivated the hearts of the West Bankers and they wanted to be part and parcel of the glorious moments that would forever be referred to as Carifesta ‘72.
The dates were in September 1972. Word got around in the West Bank area, word had got around about the Carifesta Village. They had heard of the many people, once total strangers to each other who were coming together and were beginning to enjoy the words of Guyana’s national motto of ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’.
They heard of the Cubans in the Carifesta Village who admirably breached the language barrier. The Cubans for example would fan their breasts, and flap their fingers as wings and soon the caterer discovered that Cubans preferred chicken breast.
The West Bankers were eager to be in the fun as they had heard by then that the Brazilians would come. But certainly a new stage was needed away from the Wales Community Centre and away from the building that made up the ladies pavilion. These properties previously owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation are now owned by the Local Government body.
Meanwhile Wisland Parks had the distinction of being the first chairman of the Toevlugt/Patentia District Council under the Municipal and District Council Act of 1969. At the time the able-bodied Parks moved with rapidity as he established a committee that speedily built a stage that accommodated the Brazilians and other artistes, adding to the success of Carifesta ‘72.
Regretfully the services of folks like Parks and others will not be available this year with the passing of time.
Parks no longer holds the position of chairman of the Local Government body nor does he walk with the nimbleness of yesteryear that had won him so many admirers.
Today he walks with the aid of a cane and barely recalls the actors who formed part of that committee. But he could never forget his Chief Works Officer Oslyn King, several years his junior who has gone to the great beyond.
Still he recalls the Sister’s Sawmills owned by the late Joe Wills, the second largest private employer in the Toevlugt/Patentia Local Government District.
It was the very Sawmill from which his District Council obtained credit to construct the Wales Estate facility that accommodated the Brazilians and at least one other group of artistes who made Carifesta ’72 a success.
But Carifesta’s success was not limited to activities at Wales. Yet, a current activist Gloria Williams recalls Carifesta ‘72 on the West Demerara. She remembers the late Mother Dattie of Stanley Town Village, some six miles south of Vreed-en-Hoop and her troupe of 20 Congo Drum dancers.
A special Tata bus was arranged to carry members of this troupe to perform at the Georgetown locations.
They were other trips made by other specially arranged Tata buses to take people to and from Georgetown, and she recalls those testing times. At first it was not easy for Williams, the points person for Carifesta ’72 on the West Bank nor was it any easier for other volunteers. Yet they faithfully distributed the fliers urging that people board the buses at the places and times scheduled. It was indeed a moment of satisfaction as the thousands of West Bankers congregated to enjoy for themselves a glimpse of Carifesta ‘72.
Still in the memories of many the drums beat. They can still remember the days of yesteryear when the Brazilians did come. And they hear the trumpet billowing in the night cutting the silence asunder. The Brazi-lians gyrated and so did they.
The locals danced on the cricket field, even on the cricket pitch and moved to the tune of the drums and other instruments.
But the local crowd had more to shout about. They waited and watched as the artistes from the Portuguese-speaking committee dished out more. They were more than surprised when they heard the Brazilians in their version of broken English singing local patriotic songs as well as local folk songs.
However, they held their breath when they viewed the Brazilians performing on stage. Again in broken English the Brazilian actors performed many acts that told the story of their country’s role in an emerging Carib-bean community.
