Mashramani going national next year
Stabroek News
September 22, 2002
Mashramani activities will have a wider regional compass next year with several national competitions being held in various parts of the country, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Gail Teixeira said.
Teixeira, who is the Chairperson of the National Mashramani Committee (NMC) and who presided over the launching of Mash 2003 at the Umana Yana in Kingston on Friday afternoon, said that the activities were being launched one month earlier than last year and that the committee was proud of this achievement. Last year they were launched on October 20.
In unveiling the logo and the theme for next year’s Mash activities, Teixeira said that last year’s logo will become the permanent official Mashramani logo and will be used on letterheads and to identify with Mashramani generally. She said that while there was no copyright on the logo and theme, she nevertheless warned against them being used for any vulgar purpose.
This year’s Mashramani theme `United are we, In 2003’ was won by Martin Burns, of Thomas Street, Kitty. He won a cash prize of $30,000. The competition attracted 91 entries from most of the country’s administrative regions with the exception of Regions One (Barima/Waini) and Nine (Upper Essequibo/Upper Takutu).
Noting that all the activities had already been planned and the venues booked, Teixeira said that the locations for the national competitions will no longer be centred in Georgetown. This time some activities will be held at Uitvlugt, Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice), Anna Regina, Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Hope Town, Region Five (Mahaica/West Berbice) and Diamond, Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica).
In addition to the national competitions, regions and towns such as New Amsterdam, Linden and Anna Regina will hold their own costume bands and float parades.
According to the programme, registration for the Road March Song is now open.
The deadline for registration is November 29. Auditions for the adult and junior calypso competition will be held from December 1 to December 15 in the regions.
Registration for both the steel pan and the masquerade competitions will close on January 3, next year.
Introducing members of the NMC, Teixeira noted that for the first time the private sector has come aboard with both the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Guyana Manufacturers’ Association (GMA) having representatives on the committee.
The other members are Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Keith Booker, Mash Coordinator and convenor of the costume band and float parade, Lennox Canterbury. Other convenors are Raymond Cummings (masquerade), Winston Benn (steel pan), Desiree Wyles-Ogle (children’s competitions), Patricia Chase-Green (calypso), and Nazim Hussain (illuminated buildings).
Others represented are the Burrowes School of Art; the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports; Georgetown Mayor and City Council; Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development; Guyana Broadcasting Corporation; Guyana Fire Service; Guyana Police Force; Guyana Prison Service; Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Ten; Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce; Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana; National Parks Commission; PSC; GMA; Guyana Information News Agency and the Mash Secretariat.
Remarking on the good response to the launching of Mash 2003, Teixeira said that already a number of companies had indicated their willingness to continue sponsorship as well as to join in with sponsorship. They included Bristol cigarettes and the Guyana China Sanata Textiles which showcased a number of their materials as decoration in the benab, thereby lending to the occasion.
Urging craftsmen to make Mashramani memorabilia which visitors to the country for Mashramani could take back with them, Teixeira said they could turn the occasion into an economic activity.
As part of the launching the NMC gathered a group of revellers who tramped from the Bank of Guyana building to the Umana Yana accompanied by a steel band. They, along with the National School of Dance, the National Dance Company and US-based Guyanese singer Courtney Noel of Arrowhead fame, entertained the gathering comprising mainly designers, artists and artistes, convenors and sponsors.
During Noel’s final rendition, Arrowhead, the dancers distributed miniature golden arrowheads, compliments of Sanata, and the entire gathering spontaneously waved their flags to the rhythms to signal their expectations for Mash 2003.
Some, more spritely than others, including Prime Minister Sam Hinds and Teixeira took to the floor and jumped and waved. (Miranda La Rose)