BRIDGETOWN IS EXPECTED to come alive next week with a parade on land and sea, fireworks and a multimedia concert, all to launch Barbados’ 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebrations.
Speaking at a press conference held today at Secretariat, located in the Old Town Hall Building in Bridgetown, Chairman of the 50th Anniversary National Organising Committee, Senator Maxine McClean, explained that the event, which will be held on Wednesday “represents an opportunity for Barbadians to gather in communal appreciation of the journey to this point and with a determination to continue growing in strength and unity”.
She pointed out that the celebrations will begin in the afternoon with a parade in The City, comprising students from nursery to secondary schools across the island, as well as uniformed youth groups, such as the Barbados Cadet Corps, the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides Association, Barbados Red Cross Society, Seventh Day Adventist Pathfinders, Barbados Youth Service and the Barbados Landship.
At the end of the parade, which culminates in Independence Square, the commemorative Broken Trident will arrive on board a Barbados Coast Guard vessel accompanied by a flotilla of watercraft.
It will be carried ashore by the oldest active fisherman who will hand it to the youngest Sea Scout and Sea Cadet, who in turn will pass it on to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. Stuart will pass the commemorative Trident to the St George Parish Ambassadors.
The multimedia concert will get under way at 6 p.m. under the theme “Barbados We Come From”, which the Chairman noted will be “a joyous, inspirational, yet reflective celebration of who we are as Barbadians”.
Adding that the night will be a reclaiming of those things Barbadians would be proud to call their very own, Senator McClean disclosed that “musically the night features everything from folk to gospel, tuk to jazz, to spouge, calypso and soca … It is a gathering of and a tribute to the legendary storytellers of music, poetry and prose and their legacy”.
Performers at the concert will include Rupee, Shontelle, Gabby, RPB, Emil Straker, Fiona Alleyne, Ian Webster, the Warrior, Zukeli Inniss, the St Leonard’s Boys’ and Coleridge and Parry School Choirs and the Royal Barbados Police Force Band.
Vendors interested in plying their trade during the launch are asked to call the National Cultural Foundation as soon as possible to secure their positions. (BGIS)