In the Anguilla Tourist Board’s conference room, on Wednesday, November 10th, officials of the Department of Youth and Culture, in addition to other stakeholders, sat with the Honourable Minister of Social Development, Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, and Permanent Secretary, Bonnie Richardson-Lake, to reveal the activities of this year’s Malliouhana Fest. The festival will commence on November 27th and end on December 19th.
Individuals facilitating the festival’s launch included: Director of Youth and Culture, Ms. Avon Carty; Senior Programme Officer, Mrs. Tiffany Rogers-Carty; Gender Development Coordinator, Dr. Ronya Foy-Connor; and Manager of Destination Experience, at the Anguilla Tourist Board, Mr. Jameel Rochester.
Now in its second year, the Malliouhana Fest 21 has been designed as a series of cultural activities that extends over a three-week period, to promote direct interaction between creatives and the public. This Festival is key in promoting an understanding and appreciation of Anguilla’s cultural and artistic sector. It also fosters a sense of national pride in local art of every kind.
According to Director, Avon Carty, “The launch of Malliouhana Fest marks an exciting time for the Department of Youth and Culture. Today’s launch brings to you the results of hard work and effort that my colleagues and I have undertaken to bring to the public in a time of Covid — something that we all can enjoy.
“Last year, as we were in the early throws of the pandemic, while making preparations we were not sure of how the Fest would pan out. However, we pushed through with enthusiasm and the festival turned out to be quite exciting, in fact. And because of all the excitement, we knew that this must become an annual event, so here we are again this year.”
She noted that because the event was so successful last year, the department was able to expand it to include the Anguilla Tourist Board, represented by Mr. Jameel Rochester, and the Gender Unit, represented by Dr. Ronya Foy Connor.
The Honourable Minister, Dee-Ann Kentish Rogers commented: “I want to take this opportunity to give recognition to the Culture and Arts division of the Department of Youth and Culture for the work that they are doing with this specific project. Malliouhana Fest is what I would term as the taster into our culture, our arts, and our festivities. We have a carnival celebration each year during the month of July/August, in which some people participate and others don’t. But what is unique about the Malliouhana Festival is that it is a festival for everyone.”
In walking through the exciting lineup of activities for this year’s festival, Program Officer, Tiffany Rogers, said: “We were very excited about Malliouhana Fest last year, when its duration was four days, but this year we are even more excited, as the Fest has been expanded over three weeks. The festival begins on the weekend on November 27th, and we will be running on the weekends that follow, down to the weekend of December 19th.
“The first activity is one we call ‘Le We Roam’. This will be held at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium on Saturday, November 27th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. This is an art walk where all of the creatives come and showcase their talents, their wares and their works. All works of art here must be original…
“The next activity is ‘Tranquil: Jazz on the Lawn’, to be held at the Agriculture Garden on Sunday, November 28th, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Last year’s ‘Tranquil’ was a beautiful event, and we expect it to be even more beautiful and bigger this year…All are welcomed to come with their blankets, relax on the lawn and enjoy the great music…
“The third activity, ‘Culture on the Road’, will take place on Friday, December 3rd, beginning at 9:00 a.m. We will be starting at the Social Security complex, heading west with a few stops on the way, as we showcase Anguilla’s culture, history and traditions, while being entertained by our local talent. We will feature musicians, who will be on our DYC float. During this activity, we will be making stops and quizzing bystanders on things of cultural and historical relevance. Those who answer correctly will be lucky to win attractive prizes…
“The fourth activity will be on Saturday, December 4th, at 2:00 p.m. We will be teaming up with the Anguilla Tourist Board, who will be having their Tourism Week Fair that day. At that time, we will launch our ‘National Dress Competition’. We are trying to establish an official National Dress for Anguilla…
“Our fifth activity will be held on Friday, December 10th, at 6:30 p.m., and is entitled ‘Art Arise: GBV Awareness Through Art’. This is in collaboration with the Gender Affairs Unit, where we have some artists who will be showcasing work on the awareness of gender-based violence…
“Following will be our sixth activity on Saturday, December 11th, dubbed the ‘AMA Symposium’, held at the Anguilla Music Academy at 10:00 a.m. This activity is based generally on the musical arts, and we will have coaches speaking on how persons can help themselves, as artists, in the musical arena.
“The eighth activity of the Fest will be ‘Storytelling Under the Stars’, on Saturday, December 18th, beginning at 6:00 p.m. on the Agriculture Grounds. Storytelling was once a traditional pastime in Anguilla, and we are trying to bring it back. I am sure we will be intrigued and want to hear more…
“Then the Malliouhana Fest ends with the Cultural and Arts Awards on Sunday, December 19th, at Davida’s Restaurant. At that time we will get to honour and celebrate all of the cultural ambassadors who would have helped us to enjoy all the cultural works throughout the festival.
The two new participating stakeholders in the Fest this year are the Anguilla Tourist Board and the Gender Affairs Unit. Quite appropriately, during the festival, the Anguilla Tourist Board will be engaged in its annual Tourism Week, which will run from November 28th thru December 4th, and the Gender Affairs Unit will observe its annual Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
For Malliouhana Festival 2021, the Department of Youth and Culture recognises its Platinum Sponsors, namely: Anguilla Tourist Board, Titanium Audio Visuals and In Anguilla; its Gold Sponsors, namely: National Commercial Bank of Anguilla and Digicel; and its Silver Sponsors, namely: What We Do in Anguilla, Flow, Calypso Charters and Quest Experiences
