Visitors and locals alike lapped up the cultural offerings at the Lunchtime Dooflicky and Crafts Market at the Pelican Craft Centre.
The Mother Sally pranced, the green monkeys flipped, the limbo queen went down low and the carnival queen showed how the Bajan wuk-up is done.
There were also a number of cultural displays as artisans and businesses set up a variety of table exhibits as patrons browsed what was available.
Several craftsmen who ply their trade from the craft centre expressed pleasure at having the event. However, they are hoping that they can see some benefits from it as sales in the village continue to be unacceptable.
Wayne Onkphra-Wells, the owner of Bajan Art Forms, who has been selling in the village for the past seven years, said that for the Crop Over season the business picked up a little but generally it was quite unsatisfactory.
The wood carver said that there were not enough people passing through the village from the cruise ships and very few of them actually bought anything.
Onkphra-Wells explained that most of his sales came from long stay visitors rather than the cruise visitors.
“I get a lot of orders. When people come in and they want something done, they order it. We carve it and ship it to them,” he said. However, he is hopeful that if there were more events eventually there would be improved sales.
Ireka Jelani, who has been operating a business at Pelican since 1988, is calling for a comprehensive marketing plan for the craft centre. The owner of Roots and Grasses said that though she was happy for the event, she would like to see more people patronizing and supporting the crafts and that could only be done if there were events that brought people to the craft centre on a constant basis.
But store owner Gloria Gaskin is not pleased with the arrangements in place for the Dooflicky because, she said, many of the store owners were being left out of the action.
“The Dooflicky is not for us. It is for the people that they gave permission to set up the tables and booths in the main area. Some of these same people are allowed to sell the same things that the local craftsmen are making,” she said.
Gaskin explained that in 2007 when the Dooflicky started she complained that the vendors located at the western end of the village were too far away from the action.
She maintained that Pelican Village was a forgotten place and needed someone who was really interested in the arts and the craft people to promote the village.
“I have to do my own marketing and advertising, and it is only through the people who come here, see my work and feature me in international papers or who go back to their homes and recommend my craft to others that I get people passing through here to shop with me,” she said. (LK)
