The launch of a local costume building day in Giraudel and Jazz n’ Creole at the Fort Shirley National Park in Portsmouth, will officially kick off the activities for the Dominica Festival of Arts (DOMFESTA) 2022.
At the launch of the festival yesterday, organizers revealed that the costume building day at Giraudel which will be held today and Jazz n’ Creole, on Sunday, May 1, will form part of several events that will be hosted by numerous stakeholders in partnership with the Cultural Division.
Shirley Alexander, one of the organizers of the Giraudel-Eggleston Annual Flower Show/Market Fair, last held in 2016, said tomorrow’s costume building day is a precursor event for the main flower show which will be held during the final weekend in May.
According to Alexander, the flower show organizers will be joined by the Dominica Arts and Craft Producers Association (DACPA) and a few other youths and members of the community to help build the costumes which will be made from flowers, dry leaves, seeds, and other materials.
All costumes built will form part of a grand parade during the official opening of the flower show and market fair on May 27.
Also on the cards for this weekend, as part of the DOMFESTA offering, is the long-awaited Jazz n’ Creole, for which, according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Discover Dominica Authority (DDA), the stage is fully set.
He stated that outside of the main stage event, numerous fringe events have also been added to this year’s calendar, in hopes of decentralising the events and to also distribute the economic benefits to a wider stakeholder base.
The events commenced with a new initiative on April 28 dubbed Jazz and Spa.
The fringe events will continue today with Jazz n’ Creole cuisine featuring Breve at the Cabrits Resort and Spa Kempinski, Jazz on the beach at Purple Turtle, a creole pre-party at Atlantic View Resort, WATO- Drums and Fire at Rosalie Bay Resort and Colours on the water – a boat cruise.
Before the main events kick off at 2 pm on Sunday, the final fringe event -Brunch and Booze- will take place at the purple turtle beach in Portsmouth.
As for the main event, it will feature, foreign acts Freetown Collective from Trinidad and Tobago, Teddyson John from St Lucia and JSJ Trio from Guadeloupe. Also on the lineup will be Dominica’s award-winning singer and songwriter Michele Henderson, Dominica’s very own popular contemporary jazz band Breve and four local female artists dubbed Femme 4 comprising Marsha Laurent, Shalina Samuel, Marsha Augustine, and Tasha Peltier.
According to Piper, the artists from various parts of the region were ” purposely selected” from a tourism perspective, to attract people from those source markets.
He stressed that unvaccinated persons must have a negative Antigen test taken 24 hours in advance from any approved medical facility along with proof of identification. Vaccinated persons require their vaccination card and proof of identification.
Tickets are still available online via https://shop.access767.com/dfc. Ticket prices are VIP EC$250.00, Grounds Experience EC$150.00, Children 12 -18 years EC$75.00, and Children under 12 years old FREE. The special on the Grounds tickets at EC$120 were extended and will be available at select fringe events and will revert to $150 on the day of the show if purchased at the gate.
More on the DOMESTFA activities will be detailed in another publication.
These Covid rules are making less and less sense now that we know for sure that vaccinated people can contract and pass on the latest variant just as unvaccinated people can. If the facts (and they are facts) show that this is the case then why isn’t everyone being treated the same ? I understand the vaccination push, and I’m sure that it can help to save you if you contract this virus, but it doesn’t prevent you from contracting and transmitting this extremely contagious, though less deadly, new variant. Let’s work together to look after ourselves by implementing rules that reflect the reality of the situation so that we protect ourselves and our loved ones properly. I wish everyone a safe and successful weekend.
What’s Piper doing there. I thought London, Berlin, Paris, New York or Dubai would be more of his scene to waste our tourism budget. Fancy seeing him in Giraudel.