Calling it as we see it

Some folks often accuse us here at The Scene of being overly critical. This is unjust by all means, since we simply call things as we see it — if something is bad we say so and if it is good we acknowledge it with equal gusto.

The problem arises because not everyone agrees with our perspective and this is something we have come to accept. Quite frankly, if everyone saw things in exactly the same way, life would be pretty dull indeed.

It is based on the principle of giving credit where it is due, that we feel the need to commend the individuals behind the official website for Carifesta. Their effort is deserving of praise. Don’t get us wrong, the site is not without its faults, but we have to say that overall it is a good effort.

When we visited the website recently we were honestly expecting the worst. After all, we have grown accustomed to visiting official sites with poor layouts, limited information and generally useless — a complete waste of time and energy.

Much to our surprise the Carifesta website does not fall into this category. The site is well put together. The layout is good and the quantity and quality of information available is impressive. Useful information is offered on the initial vision and purpose of Carifesta along with other interesting historical facts about the festival.

Clearly, a lot of research was done, and for this reason we are even more appreciative of the website.

Reliable sources have indicated that such information is not as easily acquired as we may think.

The importance of having such an information packed website is undeniable. The truth is that with the majority of the population having little knowledge about Carifesta and what it entails, what the site offers is refreshing. At least there is now an avenue available with relevant and generally up-to-date facts. So anyone who spends any meaningful time on the site would no doubt be better informed.

If it hasn’t been conveyed as yet, we are quite excited about Carifesta. It really is a celebration of the Caribbean’s rich heritage and talents and Caribbean folk should fully embrace it. Hence we are concerned about the lack of enthusiasm about the festival among Guyanese.

With this in mind, the website has to be considered a positive feature in what has otherwise been a poor promotional campaign. Here again, we cannot help but voice our disappointment at the unimaginative Carifesta ads. Apart from the song and now the site, we really are not impressed. But we won’t be prolong our criticism, since this is supposed to be one of our more positive pieces.

So there you go. We have no idea who is behind the website but we give them full kudos. The site is well worth the look. So the next time you are online and have some time to spare you can check it up at www.carifesta.net. You may not agree completely and chances are that we are going to be accused of being too benevolent. But here at The Scene we’ve paraphrased our own slogan from an old saying. We realize that: “we may be able to please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.”

(thescene@stabroeknews.com)