Guyana to host Guianas Festival

Jun 23, 2012 News

The second Inter Guianas Cultural Festival will be hosted in Guyana from August 23 to August 26, under the theme “Celebrating our culture- bridging our friendship”
At the Festival, the three Guianas (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana) will showcase the best in their cultural traditions and contemporary artistic offerings. Venues range from the International Convention Center, and the brand New Craft Association facility in Kingston, North Georgetown.
Chairman of the Inter Guianas Cultural Festival Committee, Dr. David Rose, said yesterday that this year’s festival will see a number of additions. However, a main focus will be placed on “film” as the major addition for this year.
Dr. Rose noted that at a meeting initiated by Suriname in 2011, the three Guianas agreed that an Inter- Guianas Cultural Festival (IGCF) would contribute significantly to the strengthening of friendly relations amongst the people of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
He added that such a festival would also serve to promote the cooperative development of the countries’ relations in the field of arts and culture. He affirmed too that the three-nation festival would be an appropriate vehicle to develop closer cultural relations and understanding by way of the varied intense activities and artistic exchanges among the neighbours.
Like all events, there are challenges and with the IGCF this is no different. The chairman of the committee says one of the major challenges that they are facing is the language barrier amongst the three Guianas.
He said even though this is a challenge it is also an avenue to display the different cultural traditions and richness of their respective countries.
Some of the activities that will be part of this year’s festival are literary arts, visual arts, fashion shows, culinary and craft exhibitions, as well as one night dedicated to each country to display their cultural traditions in different forms such as music, dance, drama and poetry.
Suriname and French Guiana will both have a 50-member delegation.
The first Inter Guianas Cultural Festival was held last year in Paramaribo from August 25-29.
It was decided that the Inter Guianas – Cultural Festival would be an annual event in rotation among Paramaribo, Georgetown and Cayenne.