Minister: Carnival is good time to push Best Village

There is no better time to promote Best Village than at Carnival time when foreign tourists and returning nationals are in the country.

This, according to Minister of Community Devel-opment and Gender Affairs, Joan Yuille-Williams when she gave the feature address at the grand finals of the ‘Traditions of Carnival’ last Tuesday evening at the Lord Kitchener Stand, South Quay, Port-of-Spain. The large audience comprising performers, villagers and supporters listened attentively as Yuille-Williams outlined the work her ministry is doing to promote the development of communities through art and culture. “Last year we signalled to the national community that Best Village would be bigger and better than before. We kept our promise and provided tangible evidence that our objective had been met,” she said.

She noted that the Folk Fair held recently at the Queen’s Park Savannah attracted a record attention of 30,000 persons with more than 100 booths participating. She added that apart from the overwhelming demonstration of people’s power, the noticeable presence of Carnival characters has added variety and enhanced quality to the presentation of Best Village. In closing she said, “You have made a powerful statement. A statement which will reverberate far and wide that Best Village is the undying soul of the nation, which keeps our communities harmonious and in turn fosters national pride.” For the first time in the history of Best Village, the sum of $200,000 was given to the overall winner to be used to implement community projects.

People of some 25 villages from all parts of TT gathered at 2 pm for the interfaith service at the Queen’s Park Savannah. They then  joined in a street parade down Frederick Street to South Quay where the competition began. Past Best Village winner and former Calypso Monarch, Singing Sandra gave an outstanding performance, singing her new calypsos, “Laventille” and “Ancient Rhythm”. Other guest performers included, Machel Montano, Iwer George, Rikki Jai, Karega Mandela, Bunji Garlin and Shammi Salikram. Both the Mayor of Port-of-Spain, Murchison Brown and Miss La Reine Rive, Ria Rishma Soodeen brought messages to the crowds. The programme, which started at 2 pm, was completed around 1 am with the Individual of Old Mas.