BIGGER, BETTER

This year’s Holetown Festival is set to be even bigger and better.

Yesterday evening’s opening ceremony at the Holetown Monument in St. James featured a stirring display of culture, a taste of things to come over the next seven days.

Locals and visitors alike were entertained by Haynesville Youth Group Dancers; Dancin Africa; the 2019 Calypso Monarch, Classic; Spirit of the Nation Parish Talent winner Ariel Brathwaite, Gospel Artist Israel J. Allen, among others.

Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Kerrie Symmonds assured the large gathering which included the 2020 Holetown Festival Ambassador Damien “Hypa Sounds” Etienne, and Queen of the Festival Sheryl Forde that Government will try to do everything in its power to reinvigorate the festival, and make it the best it can possibly be.

In fact, he disclosed that plans go beyond Holetown, “The Government of Barbados is committed to doing that for all of the national festivals that this country has.”

“Indeed I have gone to the Council of Tourism Ministers meetings across the region and urged that we as a region recognise the symbolism of our national festivals and to do so by having a year designated as the ‘Year of National Festivals’. So, that wherever you go in the Caribbean people are doing a similar type of thing, recognising the culture, craft, cuisine, and more importantly recognising all those small business people.

“There has already been an approach taken re-envisioning what is happening in Oistins, and we are in the process of doing so with Holetown and equally we will do so with Crop Over,” Symmonds said.

The Holetown Festival was started in 1977 by Mr. Alfred Pragnell, Mr. Keith Simmons and Trents Northern Youth Group to celebrate the 350th Anniversary of the first English settlement of Barbados.

The Festival which is performed on the site of the first Settlement has grown over the years and has developed into the unique Holetown brand.
The 2020 Festival Schedule includes the Alfred Pragnell Memorial Talk; Bus Tour of Historic Holetown; Celebrity Mixologist Competition; Grand Floodlit Tattoo; The Michael Parravicino Memorial 5K Road Walk; The Sagicor/HIV AIDS Commission 5K Road Run, the annual Street Fair and Courtesy Garage Ltd, Street Parade featuring vintage and classic cars.