Positive changes to Grand Kadooment

Word should have quickly spread that for next year’s Grand Kadooment Festival the organisers are looking at implementing a few changes; persons are assured that these changes will be positive.

This information came from Manager Administration of the National Cultural Foundation, Wayne Webster, as he spoke with media on Wednesday following a brief handing over ceremony.

“I am sure that you would have heard that there will likely be some changes in the coming years and we are satisfied that they are likely to be positive, so that I can look forward to young persons like Kevin continuing to come and contribute to the growth and the development of the festival,” he said.

Kevin Small, winner of this year’s Festival Designer of the Year award and band leader and designer of Fifth Element, noted that he believed the masqueraders would appreciate the extended time, however, he believed that he, along with other band leaders were concerned about the costs attached to these changes.

“The cost will in fact be impacted, in terms of the costume price could possibly go up because we would have all the services on the road for a longer time. Some service providers may increase their costs; there are alcohol costs, food costs, and perhaps the trucks’ cost may increase a little. All the other variables will be increased as well and for the length of time we would have to look for more security so that the security could take intermediate breaks so you have the best brain power guarding you, so to speak,” he said.

However, Small is not daunted by these possible factors as he believed it will be their job to find other means of funding if sponsorship was not available. He believed it would be necessary to do fundraisers to assist with funds as well as to help subsidise these costs, so that consumers would not take a heavy hit on their pockets.

“I have no problem with the longer route and I believe in not knocking it until we try, so I believe in giving it a shot so that we can look at it for 2019, so that we can better our plan for action in 2020,” he said.