Caricom says preparations are being co-ordinated by the Interim Festival Directorate (IFD) for the 10th staging of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta) by The Bahamas in 2008.
The Caricom Secretariat, in a press release, said the Council for Social and Human Development (COHSOD) has envisioned Carifesta as “a world-renowned hallmark festival of Caribbean cultural and artistic excellence, that generates economic benefits, unites the Region and excites all the peoples.” It said the region’s flagship cultural festival is being co-ordinated by the IFD, its regional advisory body, which discussed preliminary details regarding the production, management, marketing and promotion of the festival at a recent fifth meeting it held in the host country. It conducted a comprehensive evaluation of Carifesta 1X with a view to using the results to inform the current planning for 2008’s event was conducted.
According to the secretariat’s Programme Manager for Culture Dr Hilary Brown, the IFD will ensure that there is a good governance structure in place for Carifesta X; that early and aggressive marketing and promotions are done and that greater efforts will be made to involve the private sector and other key Carib-bean stakeholders in the production of the 10-day festival. Brown said all parties involved in planning the festival have arrived at consensus regarding their role and specific responsibilities.
He said The Bahamas is expected to present an elaborate proposal including specific dates, sites, logo, activities and theme for the festival to the secretariat and the IFD has already conducted a reconnaissance of several sites in the country.
In developing the theme, Brown said the IFD had recommended that special attention be given to several critical areas including exploring the strong link between culture and tourism; emphasising links with the Caribbean Diaspora; promoting gospel and Caribbean religious heritage; placing greater emphasis on Caribbean creative industries and facilitating a trade fair component and professional networking. Addi-tionally, signal events and super concerts will continue to be featured events in Carifesta X in accordance with the new governance model as detailed in the strategic plan that was developed and adopted by the special COHSOD X on Culture in 2004.
