From all accounts this year’s Festival Del Mar was a great success. The Festival Committee seems to have ramped up its organization to a considerable degree and its hard work has paid off. It deserves much commendation.
The idea of Festival Del Mar has been a wonderful addition to our annual calendar of events, and one which deserves support as it not only adds to our tourism product but enhances, at a very basic level, a sense of community and togetherness which should be nurtured and maintained. This is fundamental to its continued success.
The objective of this article is to suggest fun and creative ways to assist in improving Festival Del Mar and making it into an even bigger success than it has hitherto been. The ideas contained are simply shared to add value.
The fundamental concept of the festival has been, I believe, to spotlight our relationship with the sea. Like all small islands across the globe the sea has been, and continues to be, pivotal to our way of life, our culture and our development even though it is often taken for granted. In the case of economic development, particularly tourism, it has been a key resource for fun and recreation and it is in that vein, along with the opportunity to educate and stimulate creative endeavour, that our relationship with the sea needs to be celebrated and developed.
In my view the festival is still in its infancy as far as its potential is concerned. This is a good thing as it leaves room for improvement and the festival officials should keep a sharp eye open for such opportunities.
I realize that the organization of these events requires inordinate amounts of time dealing with logistics, parking, sanitation facilities, food costs and the like. Those issues will always have to be dealt with. But my concern is with two things:
1. Ensuring that the festival maintains an emphasis on the sea.
2. Taking care not to let it become just another lime or jam.
For instance, there is a fishing competition, a boat race, a sunfish race and a swimming race. All very legitimate marine-oriented activities which should be maintained and enhanced. The downside to these events is that they have limited spectator participation. Tournament fishing, for instance, can only intrigue spectators if the “weigh in” of fish caught by competing boats and crew is done all at the same time – on a stage where many can see and with an M.C. hyping the catch and “bigging up” the fishermen. Loud speakers and a M.C. with a humorous running commentary could help to add some fun to the weigh in.
Boat racing, as fundamental as it has been to our culture, has never been a great spectator sport from land except for the last few minutes of a tight race. Most people ashore never get to see the action in a race. Hopefully, technology will change that and the introduction of 4G networks and drones may allow shore viewing of a race on a big screen and in more detail in the future. But until then that is just the way it is. In addition, the way boats have to touch the marker buoys in Island Harbour on “a reach” and not “on the wind” can diminish the excitement of the finish.
Sunfish racing is great, but again is somewhat limited unless thought is given to team matches, the race course and live commentary.
A swimming race is likewise a very difficult spectator sport unless again, like sunfish racing, the race course is interesting and enough hype is made around the contestants. If not, it becomes just a lot of bobbing heads and splashes in the sea.
Let me reiterate: these events are “must haves” and I support their inclusion wholeheartedly. All I am saying is that more thought be given to how spectators can be more involved, and more hype be made around the respective event.
Although music is an important part of any festival, care needs to be given to restricting staged vents to the evening especially those of visiting artists. Once the sun has set nothing can be seen or done on the sea and it is at this time that modern musical acts would be great. But during the day, thought should be given to stage parang-style calypso competitions where calypsonians can concoct off the cuff rhymes, teasing and mocking, as the art form is famous for, but always in good humour. It would be even better if their calypsoes had a bias towards the sea, boat racing and fishing like:
“Sam was a fisherman who went missing twice
not because things were bad with the weather.
So he went into politics thinking that would be nice
And lost himself altogether.”
Well, maybe no politics but certainly humour. And, by the way, Sam and I are very good friends and I have enormous respect for him and his profession.
Ideas of improvement
Idea #1
So “what if” – we built two or four 20 ft replicas of Carib war canoes that could carry a team of say ten paddlers, with five on either side, and did a race from the jetty to a marker near Scilly Cay and back to the jetty? Or from the Primary School to Scilly with a finish at the jetty? These canoes would be semi-stable, meaning they could capsize if not handled well – which could actually add to the fun and excitement of the event. Safety equipment, life jackets etc would be a given.
What if – we got sponsored teams of men and women who were prepared to dress like Carib warriors and called the race the “Jocahu Race”? Or what if we got the houses at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School to compete and receive points for their annual sports day tally from the Festival Del Mar races?
What if – the canoes were built by students from W.I.S.E and from the TVET section of the school, teaching boat building skills and pre-Columbian history at the same time?
What if – the canoes were then painted and decorated (as the original Caribs did) by the art classes at the school in a way that would clearly differentiate one from the other and make it easy for spectators to identify the teams they are supporting? Canoes could even carry banners which would be even more colourful and dramatic.
What if – we got bands to beat Carib war drums at the end of the jetty to lend drama and excitement, or even put a drummer in each canoe to beat his drum to the rhythm of the paddlers?
Could something like this not entertain and educate all at once? Remember the voyage of the “Gli Gli” here, from Dominica, in May 2007? Would it not combine good fun, laughter and competition with a little insight into our predecessors who called this island “Malliouhana” and who used to rely so heavily on the sea? It could tie a live event to our efforts to promote pre-Columbian history with what is being done at the Fountain and Big Spring. I think this could add a whole new dimension to a festival of the sea, and the geography of Island Harbour is nicely suited for this. If some teams preferred to be African in orientation, rather than Carib, that too would be cool and certainly authentic.
Idea #2:
Bring back the greasy pole. As a boy I can still see the flamboyant flowers at the end of a spar jutting out horizontally from the old jetty in Sandy Ground and boys trying to grab them back and win a prize. It can be a hilarious and certainly an entertaining event. Yes, some say it is dangerous, but are we now such a bunch of wimps? There is always some element of danger in anything to do with the sea.
Life as it is today is already hectic and stressful and it is always good to kick back for a few hours and just have fun. But to have fun and raise awareness at the same time can have long-term positive effects. Festival Del Mar has the potential to raise a greater awareness of all that the sea has meant to us in the past and will in the future. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt here. Why not encourage it to rise to an even greater level? It certainly contains the seeds to do so.
