CARICOM Assistant Secretary General with responsibility for foreign and community relations ambassador Colin Granderson said, CARIFESTA is a critical tool of the integration process as it promotes greater awareness of the many sides of the region’s heritage.

According to a release, Ambassador Granderson who was addressing the Launch of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) last Wednesday, told an outdoor audience of thousands of Guyanese and a strong delegation from the Region that the Festival was the major forum for cultural expression and cooperation in the Community and the wider Caribbean Region.

He added that culture was increasingly being perceived as the root and fruit of the development of the Caribbean Community: “…the root, because it goes to the heart of who we are as a people; the fruit, because it is the product or manifestation of our identity. This product, through our cultural industries, can also bring significant economic returns,” he explained.

The Assistant Secretary General underscored the need for CARIFESTA to become a dynamic process in order to remain interesting and relevant, and acknowledged the artistes of the Region whom he said were the chief proponents of this dynamic process.

He pledged the continued support of the CARICOM Secretariat in ensuring the success of this special event which he said, provided us with a unique opportunity to see and to celebrate ourselves as a people of one Region.

Against the backdrop of a dazzling display of revelry, artistry and showmanship, Guyana rolled out well-advanced plans for the staging of the event and according to Mr. Granderson, “if what we see tonight is but a small taste of what we can expect from CARIFESTA X,” then the Region should anticipate what is to come with great excitement.

The rich cultural presentations were choreographed by Dr. Paloma Mohamed, the Artistic Director of CARIFESTA and her energetic team included Guyana National Combined Steel Band who tantalized the crowd with Caribbean rhythms.

Masquerades also exploded on stage with a riot of colours and drama; African Maroon and Javanese dancers from Suriname with a fusion of drumming, dancing and martial arts, blazing a path for the piece de resistance, the Limbo dancer, Makeba Gabriel from Trinidad and Tobago who ignited the audience with her fiery performance.

The evening’s launch climaxed with the spectacular unveiling of the CARIFESTA Logo and song by President Bharrat Jagdeo.

CARIFESTA returns to its birthplace after 36 years on 22-31 of August and will be hosted under the theme: One Caribbean; One Purpose - Our Culture; Our Life.