Caribbean culture takes centre stage as Carifesta XV lights up Barbados

Speaking at the opening ceremony at Queen’s Park, festival director Carol Roberts said the event is about honouring the past while shaping the future.

“We gather here not only as neighbours, but with a recognition of where we have come from and where we are going. It is about legacy—what we are building for the future,” she told the audience.

This year’s festival features 366 events, including, for the first time, performances from the African continent. Thirty-four countries are participating, with 300 young people from across the Caribbean among the performers.

Several regional and international dignitaries are attending, including representatives from Rwanda, the Netherlands, Colombia, Venezuela, Guinea-Bissau, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Haiti and the Netherlands Antilles.

Host Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Carifesta XV must create a lasting cultural and technological impact.

“This festival must leave a legacy in the minds of our young people, and through the electronic marketplace Barbados is committed to building for Caribbean practitioners,” she said.

Mottley emphasised the global significance of Caribbean voices and creativity.

“It is not only enough for your stories to reach the region through broadcast and social media today. We want them to last, so the world understands our contribution to humanising the world, to fairness and justice at a time of wars, conflict, geopolitical tensions, and the climate crisis,” she added.

The prime minister praised the resilience of Caribbean people, saying their spirit, music, masquerade, food and creativity offer optimism for the region’s future despite challenges. She also announced that Barbados has signed an agreement with T&T-based Banyan Productions to acquire 40 years of digital archives documenting Caribbean history and culture.

“We are committed to making those archives available to all Caribbean people. Whether it is George Lamming delivering the eulogy of Maurice Bishop or rare footage of Carifesta 1981, these archives will give young people the opportunity to build on our legacy,” Mottley said.

Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett hailed the return of Carifesta after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What a significant moment for us who have assembled in Barbados,” she said, describing the festival as an affirmation of history, creativity and identity through literary, culinary, visual and performing arts.

Barnett said Carifesta is a cornerstone of regional development strategy.

“It is an enduring testament to the boundless creativity of the Caribbean,” she declared.