Miss Holetown Queen of the Festival, Shaunice Griffith.
It was a cultural extravaganza complete with Bajan treats and tuk band music.
The Honourable Denis Kellman, Minister of Housing and Lands and representative for the parish of St. Lucy was on hand for the launch of the Holetown Festival.
He asserted, “It is a privilege for me to join you at the launch for this historic festival. I gave my sincere congratulations to the Holetown Festival Planning Committee for their contribution and their foresight in recognising the importance of heritage, culture and various art forms, and their efforts in creating a space for economic activity.”
He admitted, “I am informed that the Holetown Festival is the longest running uninterrupted cultural festival in Barbados. This shows the vision and commitment of the committee and you are blessed to still have one of the founders of the festival alive, Mr Keith Simmons.”
Kellman credited, “I applaud the Holetown Festival Planning Committee for their commitment and for their good work. You have produced an exemplary social model of engagement that should be replicated by other social groups.
He challenged, “I urge you all to support the artistes because in supporting the artistes you are ensuring that you support localisation and you are also ensuring that you impact, not only on the fiscal, but also the current account of Barbados. What you are doing is not only attractive to the locals but also to the tourist market.”
He noted, “The Holetown pageant continues to support excellence.” In his interaction with participants in the pageant he found them to be poised, well-spoken ambassadors of the country and he encouraged them to continue to develop. The minister wants to see more participants get involved. He recognises that coordination the logistics for each day of the festival will be tedious but he acknowledged that they have successfully done so yearly.
“The responsibility to conserve, restore and celebrate our nations heritage can not be the sole responsibility of government agencies, especially in a country where physical manifestations of our past are so numerous and often appear to be at risk of being overwhelmed by the pace of development.”
Kellman believes that this festival allows visitors of all types to share in the tourism industry. He has decided that community tourism has to play a pivotal role in Barbados. He emphasised the need to continue the festival because it was the empowerment of the masses. (ST)