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| Damian "Jr Gong" Marley rehearsing -photo Guyana Chronicle |
Last night saw my first trip to the National Stadium, and my first experience of a music concert Guyana style, shared with fellow "silver surfers" Halina, Steve and Susan.
The Saturday event- which began at 2pm and ran until 1am was billed as a family fun day, the first of a regular annual 2 day extravaganza to celebrate the country's independence.
The venue- the enormous Car Park adjacent to the stadium, was laid out with booths to three of the four perimeter fences. One section was dedicated to children's entertainment, with bouncy castles, a giant snakes and ladders games, skittles bowling and the like. The rest comprised of craft stalls, bars and food outlets, plus a significant representation of African and Rastafarian traditions and practices: the latter because of the main music act for the first of the two days. (Sunday would feature Soca and Chutney performers)
The festival is about Food, Arts and Music. We chose to eat in the Chinese food area, principally because seating was available. We enjoyed Dim Sum and pots of green tea. Other food options included fish and chips, burgers, a vegetarian stall and vendors pedalling across the tarmac with trays of creole snacks:- plantain chips, corn on the cob, and the like. Supplies were plentiful and queues minimal.
Among the usual craft items- jewellery fashioned from local plant sources and beads, small woven items, tie dye fabrics, carved wooden ornaments- there were also locally produced wines from a favourite venue of ours, Pandama Wines and Retreat,
The entertainment, in "segments", represented the Arts and Music themes of the festival. The venue was still mostly empty as we listened to African drummers, poetry recitals, watched displays of dance and martial arts, and heard local reggae artists perform to backing CDs.
Once the main stage was ready, and more people began to arrive, the next segment- the fashion show, featuring local designers, began. To a background accompaniment of Bob Marley's Exodus and Eddy Grant's Gimme Hope Jo'anna we watched the parade of models, all taking part in a Guyana's Next Top Model type competition, display a selection of racy women's dresses, mostly resembling the "Strictly Come Dancing" style of wear. While most of the men's clothing looked like any other, one particular "piece", a tiny pair of sparkling underpants bravely sported, brought a visible surge forward in the watching crowd.
Then, as the car park became busier, the slow build up to the main act began with well known Guyanese singers and DJs working up the mood in the crowd. Elsewhere in Georgetown, the Presidential address and the main news sources spoke of Guyana's progress:
“We need to safeguard our freedoms, defend and strengthen our democracy, and allow the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our people to flourish. A great Guyana will not be measured only in terms of what we build and what we create, but also in our character as a nation, including our ability and willingness to set aside narrow interests for the greater good of all Guyana.”
In conversation with a head teacher colleague I was told Guyana was "a young country" and that the people had "to work things out for themselves" and "be patient" when wanting progress in education.
Back in the stadium, the atmosphere wasn't hostile or ugly, but there were lyrics a-plenty expressing the despair of poverty and unemployment, and urging loyalty to one's wife or girlfriend.
Damian Marley performed a great set of dance hall and reggae and the crowd sang along. I joined in the general dancing and moving around, loving the heat of the evening and the friendliness of a crowd with no one noticeably aggressive or drunk. Our favourite song was a reworking of Bob Marley's "Exodus"- appropriate here, where most families have relatives living abroad, with the numbers of Guyanese living in New York (1 million) and Toronto (1 million) exceeding the total population of Guyanese living in Guyana (0.75 million).
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| My concert souvenir- Damian Marley green tea drink-plus garden flower. |
