The grand finale of the Guyanese Folk Festival will take the shape of a Family Fun Day billed for September 2, at Pacplex Poolside Complex, Brooklyn, New York.
The Festival – which commended on July 2 with the 10th Annual Caribbean Heritage Summer Workshop which offers children between the ages of six and 14 an integrated curriculum – uses the arts to study and showcase themes in Caribbean heritage.
At the workshop, a kids’ costume was assembled and titled “Spirit of Our Festivals” and it showcases Guyana’s national festivals such as Mashramani, Diwali, Masquerade, and the Dragon Dance.
The costume band will perform at the Folk Festival’s inaugural Kids’ Costume Band Parade, scheduled for 11:00h on the day of the Fun Day.
On August 29, there will be an award ceremony at the Brooklyn Borough Hall, where the achievements young Guyanese are recognised. At the award ceremony, a dance production done by the Classique Dance troupe titled “Home” will be featured.
The final event however, is the Family Fun Day. This new venue will allow Guyanese in the Diaspora to showcase a larger range of creative expressions across the day.
The Children’s Village will open at 11:00h with the Kids’ Costume Band Parade, featuring costumes created by the 2018 Caribbean Heritage Workshops series.
In addition, several events will be organised for children and their families, including a workshop on bodypainting by Steve Douglas of Bravo Arts. This will be followed by the stage show which starts at 17:00h.
Among the confirmed musical performers are Flantis and the Ninja Band, Young Bill Rogers, Gavin Mendonca, Adrian Dutchin, Randy Ramdin and Recklëz Tassa Group, as well as the GCA’s Kwe Kwe Ensemble.
The Classique Dance Company NYC and Friends will premiere four new choreographies during the 2018 season. “Tribes of Guyana,” “Ethnic Vibration,” and “It’s a Caribbean Thing” will be proudly performed at the stage show.
There are new faces this year from Guyana who are behind the 2018 Folk Festival season. Among them are Clinton Duncan, Mwanza Glenn and Paul Charles. These three Guyana-based artists are among Guyana’s leading festival artists and their impact is already evident in the Caribbean Heritage Summer Workshop series.
Among the other new faces is Steve Douglas of Bravo Arts. He will use body painting and special effects makeup techniques to bring to life characters such as “Ole Higue” and “Masacura Man”.
He will also use Henna to showcase the sacred Andinkra symbols from West Africa at Kwe Kwe Night. Henna art/Mehindi is popular in some Guyanese Hindu weddings.
Roger “Young Bill Rogers” Hinds, the recipient of GCA 2018 Exemplary Award, will give his first Guyana Folk Festival performance. The multi-timed National Calypso, Soca, and Chutney Monarch is expected to perform his own repertoire and pay tribute to his father’s pioneering recording session with the RCA Bluebird label in New Jersey in 1935.
With that recording session, Bill Rogers Snr became the first Guyanese recording artist.
Another first visit will be Gavin Mendonca, fresh from the 2018 World of Music, Art and Dance (WOMAD) Festival in the UK, where he performed his unique style of music: Creole Rock. His recent album “Creole Rock: The Beginning” is a celebration of Guyana’s folk songs.
