A Jamaican contingent at the 9th Caribbean Festival of Arts at the Hasley Crawford Stadium in 2006. - Contributed

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Preparations have started for the staging of the region's flagship cultural festival, the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), to be hosted by The Bahamas in August 2008.

A Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat statement Thursday said that the plans are being coordinated by the Interim Festival Directorate (IFD), the regional advisory body to CARICOM.

It said that CARIFESTA is envisioned by the Council for Social and Human Development (COHSOD) as "a world-renowned hallmark festival of Caribbean cultural and artistic excellence that generates economic benefits, unites the region and excites all the peoples."

IFD held a two-day meeting in The Bahamas last week and the statement said preliminary details regarding the production, management, marketing and promotion of the festival were discussed.

The meeting also conducted a comprehensive evaluation of CARIFESTA IX that was held in Trinidad and Tobago, with a view to using the results to inform the current planning of CARIFESTA X.

CARICOM's programme manager for Culture, Dr. Hilary Brown, said the IFD would ensure that there is a good governance structure in place for CARIFESTA X and that early and aggressive marketing and promotions were undertaken as well as the involvement of the private sector and other regional stakeholders in the production of the 10-day festival.

Brown said that the meeting had arrived at consensus regarding the role and specific responsibilities of members and the host country.

He said an elaborate proposal is expected to be presented to the CARICOM Secretariat that would include specific dates, sites, logo, activities and theme for the festival.

Brown said, the IFD had recommended that special attention be given to several critical areas, which should give focus to CARIFESTA X.

These include 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.

Additionally, 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 meeting on Culture, in 2004.