The products and skills of various local entrepreneurs from the community of Mahaut and surrounding areas were showcased at the first-ever Mahaut Village Fair.
The inaugural activity which kicked off yesterday, July 27, forms part of this year’s celebration of Fete St. Anne 2023.
In addition to food and drinks, craft, garment, agriculture, and other products, the two-day fair, which continues today, features a diverse range of products from the DCP successor, one of Dominica’s leading manufacturers and a long-established entity operating in the community, as well as some of the area’s wholesale outlets and a number of people in the informal trading sector.
Sobers Esprit, Chairman of the Fete St Anne organising committee, explained to the media at the official launch that the event served as an opportunity for members of the community to begin to find a platform to show that “we can do things, but also to show that apart from the former well-established operators in the country, that small people, small businesses, can in fact organise and do things for themselves.”
While he acknowledged that participation in the fair’s initial edition was limited, he also stated that plans are in place to hold the event on a greater scale in the coming years, with suitable training provided for entrepreneurs.
“I think we’ll have to do some hand-holding and support training,” he admitted. We have a lot of local producers; some of them may be afraid to come out because they don’t fully trust their own abilities, and others have stated that they don’t have enough products. That is something we will work on.”
The two-day fair is just one of the components of the 2023 celebration of Fete St Anne.
The festivities kicked off on July 22 with a breadfruit brunch, with revenues benefiting the rebuilding of the Holy Family Chapel in Mahaut, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria.
Later that evening, Volume two of the Massacre Dwive was held, featuring Signal Band and several other local DJs.
Members of the community also commemorated the religious element with a novena and a high mass throughout the past week. The activities will continue today, July 28, with day two of the fair and a Cadence-Lypso and Calypso extravaganza this evening featuring an array of Dominican singers and performers in both the Cadence-Lypso and Calypso genres, all backed up by Dominica’s longest surviving band, the Swinging Stars.
The evening will include an homage to the legendary Belles Combo, as well as music by Dominica’s best Calypso and Cadence musicians, accompanied by the swinging Starz band.
Tomorrow, Saturday, July 29, the day will begin with a water sport activity and boat blessing and will conclude with what is being touted as the biggest summer jam, ‘the summer cool out’-a premium cooler fete featuring Signal Band and other entertainers. A massive block-o-rama will be the climax of the week-long celebration on Sunday, July
30 at Campbell Road, Mahaut between 6:00 p.m. and midnight, with an entertainment package made up of the infectious music of the Swinging Stars and the Triple Kay along with DJ RIO and DJ Flip.
I didn’t see many entrepreneurs but I saw lots of labour suckers. In Dominica one is classed as an entrepreneur when one receives a government grant for a bogus business idea under the clear understanding to vote labour in the next election. None of those businesses survive for mor than two years, the only thing that remains thereafter are the tax free cars.
Who else was there? why only one business showcased
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