(The second and final instalment)
One of the more attractive things about GuyExpo 2013 was the more than usual number of Amerindian vendors who had set up stalls displaying their strong drinks and wild-meat based dishes.
Wild meat may no longer be a novelty in Georgetown but from all appearances the Amerindians’ offerings appeared to have been well supported and it seemed that rather than the support being simply a matter of patronage the wild meat dishes, particularly, appeared to be popular with the visitors to GuyExpo, In passing it should be noted that the surfeit of Amerindian stalls at GuyExpo last year was followed by the opening earlier this year of what is believed to be the first coastal Amerindian restaurant. It may have been a modest beginning, but it was a historic event in its own right given the fact that not a great deal is known about the Amerindian culinary heritage beyond the fact that cassava bread and wild meat are indigenous to Amerindians.
As far as we are told an audit of last year’s GuyExpo is to be tabled in the National Assembly this year. We are unable to confirm this but suffice it to say that it would be a salutary thing. The fact is that it may well be the case that GuyExpo could be a self-sustaining event and the proceeds from the gates, stall rents and other accruals might go a far way towards growing the event.
Somehow, you get a feeling that the growth of local small and medium-sized businesses could revolve around GuyExpo; that the event might be a place to which many local vendors might come with reasonable expectations of a meaningful marketplace; that there might even be high expectations of at least a fair and reasonable market