The bulk of last year’s CARIFESTA XV $35.7 million spending went to institutional expenditure, followed by payments to service providers and a sizeable chunk in accommodation, air fares and per diem for some participants.
The figures on the ten-day regional festival were revealed to the DAILY NATION by festival director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the National Cultural Foundation, Carol Roberts when questioned on public debate on the millions in cost overruns.
The country and Roberts had been lauded following the conclusion of the fiesta that ran from August 22 to 31 for executing 347 events across 42 venues that showcased the talents of hundreds of participants from 31 countries in music, fashion, dance, the literary arts, theatre and film, culinary arts, heritage and other areas.
There were 13 408 tickets sold to the various events but admission was free in most cases, 93 500 people passed through the CARIFESTA Village over eight days and $1.5 million in sales from the Grand Market based on point of sales information, Roberts stated.
In response to queries about the breakdown in spending, she said $14.1 million was spent on institutional expenditure that included prop, costumes, electrical installations and fixtures, furniture, booths and building out CARIFESTA Village and Grand Market, while $10.1 million went to service providers (sound, lighting, screens, electrical) and $5.8 million to accommodation, airfares and per diem.
The list of expenditure also has $2.5 million for performance fees; $1.5 million on staffing (coordinators, volunteers, liaison officers, marshals, enumerators); $1.9 million on marketing, advertising, content creation and live streaming; $1.1 million on hospitality, $1.5 million on ground transportation and $1.7 million on the Barbados programme.
The festival was carried out, the CEO explained, in strict compliance with a mandate set out in the CARICOM Host Country Agreement in relation to the artistic programme, a security plan and investment in human capital.
“CARIFESTA is a CARICOM initiative so there is a host country agreement that has a number of pillars that must be aligned with. So the CARICOM division that looks at the creative economy and community empowerment monitors the execution of the festival and holds the country to account in a way of delivering on a number of key pillars,” Roberts said, adding that meant providing full festival management infrastructure.
As a result, the CARIFESTA Village, where the Grand Market and other events were held, and the Newton Performing Arts Centre and the Richard Stoute Amphitheatre were prepared for CARIFESTA.
Barbados also had to deliver on a temporary workforce trained to meet the technical demands which fell under the heading of commitment to investment in human capital, as per the CARICOM agreement. From March to June, 303 people were trained in lighting, sound and rigging, some of whom are now independently working in the field here and overseas, Roberts further revealed.
In addition, 276 technical service providers were employed with the festival along with more than 700 independent service providers.
There was a temporary workforce of more than 2 500 general workers of marshals, ushers, security, custodians, site managers and those responsible for setting up/breaking down the venues, as well as 450 volunteers at the sites, and another group of liaison officers responsible for the delegates,while each discipline had it own artistic lead, Roberts stated.
She explained that Barbados also had a mandate to provide a broad and complex accommodation footprint of a high quality for 1 600 delegates and dignitaries from 31 countries, and while some of them covered their cost and injected into the hospitality sector, those invited by the host country had their costs covered.
To achieve that accommodation mandate, Barbados used 109 properties, including hotels, apartments, villas and AirBnBs. Meanwhile more than 100 drivers – a mixture of large companies and the self-employed – were recruited, for the mandate for adequate and easily accessible transportation, Roberts stated.
In keeping with the CARICOM agreement on an artistic programme to deliver the events, there was funding for artist fees, the youth village, the innovative Big Conversations and fringe events organised within communities.
The required coordinated security plan was executed in a partnership with the Barbados Police Service, the Barbados Defence Force as well as private security firms, and with multiple events taking place simultaneously including the super concerts, said Roberts, the events came off without incident.
The country also met its promotion and marketing requirement, she said, through a multichannel campaign that generated 18.2 social media views and 254 800 social media engagements with a combined audience of 58 839, and 13 408 in tickets sales.
“There could be no doubt that people knew about CARIFESTA. It was in your face. Everywhere you turned, you could see and hear and sometimes even touch promotional content for CARIFESTA,” she stressed.
The popular Grand Market had more than 340 booths showcasing products from 25 countries and out of that experience, vendors were offered a oneyear subscription fee for the CaribShopper platform.
Roberts pointed to other long-term gains from hosting the regional event, including having new performing arts spaces, the training received by those involved, and more than 2 500 hours of highquality broadcast content to be transitioned into a cultural content channel. (AC)
