The eleventh Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta) concluded under the theme We are doing it together on Sunday evening with a spectacular cultural display in Paramaribo’s Independence Square in neighbouring Suriname.
At 19:00hrs local time, the cheering crowd was greeted by three hundred and forty Surinamese dancing children, followed by a martial arts demonstration.
This closing ceremony was not only about Suriname but a grand cultural mesh of Caribbean nations that participated in Carifesta XI.
Singers from the Caribbean including the Whaul sisters of Guyana, Antiguans and Surinamese graced the stage as they all sang and gyrated on the Carifesta stage.
A dance of beauty was next on the agenda with poetry and drums incorporated. This led to Surinamese youths breakdancing and cultural performances from the indigenous people of the Suriname.
Belize was first on the list of other Caricom countries to showcase their culture at the festival’s finale. Music and dance in Belizean creole were well accepted by the approximate twelve thousand in attendance.
The next country to perform was announced as ‘Our neighbours to the West’ – Guyana came on stage and wowed the audience with the afro-Caribbean dance that was performed at the Guyana Night event.
St Vincent and the Grenadines brought a carnival like performance featuring live soca music and costumed dancers.
They warmed up the carnival-like atmosphere for the St Lucians who did a masquerade dance.
Jamaican artistes came out on stage singing and dancing well-known reggae and dancehall songs which had large numbers of the Caricom countries’ nationals standing and dancing along, waving their own national flags.
Trinidad and Tobago did quite an unexpected performance, dancing belles on drums instead of the usual soca, calypso or steel pan vibe.
Cuba with by far the longest performance paid a special tribute to Suriname for hosting them and the respective delegates at the ten-day festival. Latin dancers and singers were on stage representing the island nation.
A single Cuban remained on stage and began singing a song in Dutch to thank the Surinamese people, Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse joined him on the stage to sing along – the cheers from the audience were deafening and both performers received a standing ovation.
It was later revealed that the song they sang was an old Surinamese folk song with a message of unity that all should live like brothers and sisters.
Bouterse was later introduced as ‘The Captain of the Carifesta Ship’ to make his closing statement. He thanked the artists and performers for making this Carifesta an ‘Unforgettable’ event.
“Today we conclude Carifesta with great pride and joy as the past days were filled with great arts, culture and livelihood… these will always bring back the best of memories” he said, “We have witnessed an enticing opening show, we saw people of different cultures dance together as one, we learned new forms of art and our children had entertained us. It is moments like this that makes me feel proud to be the President of Suriname – It shows us who we are and what we have.
In this festival we are once again reminded that nurturing the development of our culture is key to our wealth as a region. We can charter with confidence parts of the world, with our mutual passion. We are connected – Wi na wan – We are one.”
He went on to say that this is history in the making since it is the first time a President handed over the responsibility of Carifesta to another President direct and personally.
It was at that moment he invited President Martelly of Haiti, the next host of Carifesta in 2015 up on stage, “We must continue to advance the integration of the region and by connecting our people. Thanks to Haiti for continuing this process,” Bouterse concluded in his speech.
The Master of Ceremony declared again that Carifesta XI’s closing would be historic and soon after this promise, the arena went wild after President Bouterse came back on stage dancing and singing a song first in Hindi and then Dutch. A choir soon followed behind and all together with a live band they were perfectly choreographed.
Children then flooded the stage, wearing Suri-name’s national colours: yellow, green, red and white and waving flags of similar colours. The spectacular show prompted the audience to stand and dance altogether. The Surinamese began to sing the song with their leader before a blast of steam and confetti shot from the stage.
It was revealed that the musicians of the live band, choir and back-up dancers behind President Bouterse were the Cabinet ministers of Suriname and members of Parliament.
It was a rare occurrence not only to see a President perform for his country and his guests but for political heads to dance in unity on an international stage. Carifesta XI closing ceremony was indeed one of the festival’s finest moments – but it was not over just yet.
“It is an honour and a privilege for me to hand over the baton to his Excellency, President Michel Martelly and the people of Haiti,” Bouterse said handing over a carved baton to the Haitian leader, “And from now on Carifesta XII begins!”
President Martelly replied, “Thank you President. With this I welcome you all to Haiti!” The audience cheered. “I’d like to congratulate the President for successfully hosting this mega event and thank you for your hospitality. You are wonderful.”
“It is events like this one that we get to move in the movement [Caricom integration] and it is these moments when we enforce relations and fight for the ones that are economically weak. I only suggest that the leaders [of Caricom] keep this strong. I hope to see you all in Haiti!” Martelly concluded.
And as is customary, the next host country gave a presentation on what to expect in their celebrations of Carifesta. Wyclef Jean, three times Grammy awardee from the Republic of Haiti came on stage, greeted by loud roars and cheers from the thousands viewing. As Jean sang, so did President Martelly who used to be a performer before entering into Haitian politics.
They sang a remixed version of Bob Marley’s No woman No cry to the Surinamese people. President Bouterse joined the duo and made it a fantastic trio. Together they sang One Heart by Bob Marley which had everyone dancing and singing along.
The trio sang and danced before a forty-minute burst of fireworks ended the ceremony.
Earlier, Colin Granderson, Caricom Assistant Secretary General made remarks on behalf of the Secretary General.
He said the festival had been a very vibrant and exciting ten days of sharing and showcasing the many dimensions of the rich Caribbean culture, and that of the many visiting contingents of artists from UNASUR and other friends from outside the region.
He congratulated Presi-dent Bouterse, and his team, for having successfully organised and delivered Carifesta XI and creating a space where all participating artists and officials were able to explore the theme of Carifesta XI – Culture for Development.
Granderson commended Suriname for implementing some bold and important new initiatives in Carifesta XI. He said that the Caribbean Marketplace for the Arts where international booking agents and art promoters attended the Festival to see Caribbean artists was an important initiative to take Caribbean culture to the world and to give professional support to the artists. He recommended that this initiative should be continued in all Carifestas.
He thanked the many countries and organisations in and outside the Region that have participated and contributed so significantly to the success of Carifesta XI, especially the Government of Suriname, the host country management committee, the Carifesta XI technical team and all the supporting committees, staff and volunteers for their commitment, long hours, hard work and cheerful spirit.
He also thanked the people of Suriname for their warm and generous hospitality.
He said, “Over the past 10 days we have celebrated our diversity in all art forms, from the performing to the visual, literary, culinary and many other art forms, including film, fashion and craft.”
