Georgetown, GINA, January 22, 2004

Guyana is on the brink of another Republic anniversary. On February 23, it will celebrate thirty-four years as a Cooperative Republic.
As we enter the month of February, all gears move into high to facilitate the Mashramani festivities.
This national festival, now synonymous with our Republic anniversary celebrations, has become a family event which draws people from all classes, strata and religions.
This festival began as an initiative to celebrate our Independence in 1966, by the Jaycees of Linden. Eventually, it was decided to have it moved to our Republic celebrations.
The organizers at that time could only envision a carnival type celebration, but eventually sought to change the name. That was when a group of persons, including Allan Fiedtkou, and Amerindian, was contacted for some assistance.
His group became aware of an Amerindian celebration, “Mashirimehi”, meaning cooperative effort.
It was then unanimously decided that this festival be adopted as our national festival and draw its name from “Mashirimehi”.
So on February 23, 1970 persons visited Linden from all Regions to celebrate three days of fun at the new Mashramani celebrations.
After discussions it was decided to move the festivity to Georgetown, and later it was officially made a national celebration.
This celebration entails a wide array of costumes and parades down the streets. As the event grew, so did the cost and the state was no longer able to manage the festival on its own. This resulted in a number of agencies pulling out of the national event.
On its election to office the present administration made a commitment to bring this festival back to its original glory.
The decision was also taken to get the private sector involved in the celebration in a tangible way.
According to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Gail Teixeira, it took five years to get Mash back on the national agenda.
The administration is also working to have Mash linked with carnival activities across the Caribbean.
In this way it will attract the Guyanese diaspora and tourists to the country.
Officials of the Ministry said more people are coming to Guyana for Mashramani, despite the present crime situation.
The Ministry is making attempts to get the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce on board to plan for this event to make it reach international standards.
Packages will be arranged - most likely seven-day packages - inviting people to come and enjoy the festivities.
It was for this very reason that the ‘Mash Nite’ component to the celebrations was re-introduced.
Teixeira says its the level of people involvement in the national festival that separates our Mashramani from Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.
Approximately half of our population is involved in the festival in one way or another.
The Minister also thinks that one of the main reasons for the new turn in events is the decision of the Ministry to decentralize Mash.
It has worked tirelessly to ensure that Mash activities are held in a number of Regions. This ensures that various Regions over the years get an opportunity to host a Mash event, and there is a new enthusiasm abroad.
All Regions, Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, religious organizations and small business persons are now playing a part in this national event.
The Minister adds that all generations are facilitated at Mash events, “There is something there for everyone” she said. Parents and grand parents attend the children competitions, calypso competitions, the steel pan competitions and the Float Parade on February 23.
According to Minister Teixeira, “that’s the power of Mash.” The enthusiasm has transferred itself to the children’s competitions, which has such a large crowd now that the venue for the event has had to be changed to accommodate large crowds.
The Mash celebrations have also done much more than bring a diverse group of people together for a national event. It has helped to hone the skill of designers who are now flooding the scene with their innovative designs from the children’s competition to the National Float Parade.
At the last designers camp organized by the Ministry more women than men attended, as the national festival breaks barriers in areas with previous gender biases.
It has also helped to promote the buy local campaign. More designers are using local materials to design their costumes.
This event has also provided an opportunity for social organizations to promote their cause to the largest single crowd at one event.
The Ministry of Health was openly commended for the contributions it made to the HIV/AIDS campaign even on Mash Day.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, the facilitator for this celebration, has been working since 1992 to rebuild a national festival with public and private collaboration.
They have started the culture of launching Mash months earlier in an effort to encourage agencies to plan early for more than one month of activities.