Festival Del Mar, which was the main attraction in Anguilla several days ago, is projected to be a bigger and more eventful celebration next year. The success of the two-day weekend event—the seventh so far, on April 19 and 20 – has been based on an assessment by Mr Othlyn Vanterpool, Chairman of the Organising Committee.
He took into account the mass attendance by milling throngs of people from all walks of life; the presence of a large number of tourists and returning Anguillians; the cooperative involvement of many booth operators – twenty six or more – and their conformity to the rules governing the delivery of service; the willing participation of various persons in the competitions and other activities; and the good behaviour of everyone which was a very important aspect for the smooth-running of the programme. He also commended the various sponsors and the dedication of the committee members who worked with him.
“We are looking forward to be more creative, to have other activities next year, and to have more committee members because there is a lot of work to be done,” Mr Vanterpool told The Anguillian. “We will be having a planning meeting pretty soon to get our folks ready for the next festival and all the people it attracts. While we do not readily have the statistics, I am very certain that the festival does a lot for our tourism industry. It is known that many visitors have been coming to Anguilla around this time, and we have had a lot of Anguillians living overseas who have called and asked about the timing of the event – and I have seen many of them. Overall, the festival does well for our tourism industry – for all the hotels, guest houses, apartments, restaurants and car rental companies and other services. Festival Del Mar really provides much diversity in our tourism product.”
One disappointing factor affected the festival, according to Mr Vanterpool, referring to the unfavourable conditions of the sea. “The early Saturday morning deep-sea fishing competition was not what we expected,” he stated. “As a result of the inclement weather, quite a few of the fishermen did not go out to fish. I think only one fisherman (the “Jack Master” – Roger Smith) decided to brave the weather. We had six fishing boats from St Martin also lined-up to participate in the competition, but they did not make it because the sea was really rough. Even the B-class boat race on Saturday was affected by the bad weather because out of twelve or so boats, we only had four or five entering the race. The sea conditions affected the festival quite a bit but the activities on land, despite of the showers, went down pretty well.”
The chairman of the festival was particularly pleased with the well-patronised food and other catering services, as well as the varied singing and musical performances. “By my evaluations, and talking to booth operators, they did very well – and it was all good for the festival going forward,” Mr Vanterpol said. “I thought the variety and quantity of food was commendable and, from what I heard, the booth owners sold out everything they had. Some of the other booths catered to the children so it was not all about seafood, but also catering for young people who wanted toys, confectioneries and other special items.”
About the performances, he had this to say: “We had our country concert on Sunday night with the Anguilla Country Stars; and Rissi Palmer and one of her musicians from Nashville, Tennessee. They did a pretty good job and the folks enjoyed it. Rissi was quite excited to be here. I want to thank her and all the individuals who assisted us in getting her here and taking care of her.”
Mr Vanterpool offered a general thank you to everyone for their participation and role in Festival Del Mar, and promised an even better event next year.
