Trevor Alfred was named the Designer of the Year when the annual Mashramani Awards Ceremony was held at the National Cultural Centre last Friday.
Alfred, who was presented with the Neil Chan Designer of the Year Award, was also given a cheque for $250,000. Also walking away with several trophies for designing in various categories were Antonio Paul and Nelsion Nurse.
For the children’s Mashramani Costume and Float Parade, Smyth Street Nursery walked away with the first-place trophy for the Nursery Band category, while Graham’s Hall Primary copped the first place trophy for the Primary Band category and Tucville Secondary won for the Secondary Band category. The Hinterland Scholarship Division copped the first-place trophy in the Other Children’s Group category, while Region Four carried away the first-place trophy for Regional Presentation.
For regional performances in the Costume and Float Parade, Region Three copped the first position in the Large Band category, with Antonio Paul carrying away the Best Designer award. The Regional Democratic Council of Region Four came in first position for the Medium Band category, with Nurse again copping the Best Designer title.
In the national competition Guyana Youth and Student Movement won first place in the large band category, and Nurse was named as Best Designer in the category.
Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts was crowned the Road March queen for the eighth time for her song, “One Voice.” Jovinski Thorne copped the Junior Soca Monarch title, Brandon Harding won the Senior Soca Monarch title, Jamal Stuart won the Junior Calypso Monarch title, Kenroy Fraser (Mighty Believer) won the Senior Calypso Monarch title and Steven Ramphal copped the Chutney Monarch title.
Minister of Social Cohesion Dr George Norton, in the feature address at the ceremony, lauded Mashramani 2019 as a massive success. “Apart from a spectacular and incident-free costume and float parade, the festival was executed in a manner that was all inclusive, the Mash route was crammed, and D’Urban Park was packed to capacity and for that, my team and I are grateful,” Norton said.
The minister added that they were able to ensure that every region was able to witness at least one or more of the major calendar events for Mashramani 2019. He further added that the activities hosted would’ve brought out “the magic of Guyanese patriotism.”
Director of Culture Tamika Boatswain, in her report on Mashramani 2019, told the gathering that despite many challenges, the celebrations exceeded expectations.
Boatswain reported that for the celebrations, 36 events were held in all 10 Administrative Regions. She also teased that for 2020, when Guyana will be celebrating 50 years of republican status, several signal events would be held in all 10 regions.
The ceremony was opened with a performance from the Guyana Police Force Steel Orchestra accompanied by dancers from the National School of Dance. The Steel Orchestra won the Large Band Category in the Republic Bank Panorama competition lit up the stage with their rendition of Jumo Primo’s “Tribute.”
