CATEGORY: CARNIVAL
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By Team Grenada


GRENVILLE, St. Andrew’s: On Saturday of last week (July 1, 2006), over 1,500 persons turned out at the Grenville Car Park to witness the official launch of Rainbow City Festival, 2K6. This function is an annual one organized by the St. Andrew’s Development Organization (SADO).

This early launch is obviously an attempt to generate a more fervent interest in the festival after the lukewarm support it received last year from the public. There is a new executive in place headed by Mr. Arthur Foster, who is the current Chairman of SADO. Superintendent Roy Raymond is the Deputy Chairman of SADO and the Chairman of the Festival Committee. These are two vibrant gentlemen and with the new faces on board the organization this year, it is hoped that they will be able to breathe new life into the organization and recapture the true spirit of the festival, which seems to have been lost somewhere in the past.

Present at the launch were Hon. Brenda Hood, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Hon. Yolande Bain Horsford, Minister of Housing and Social Services; Mr. Horsford; Mr. Dexter Mitchell, Director of Carnival; Mr. Peter Bain, Chairman of the St. Andrew’s Development Committee among other distinguished personalities.

There were live performances from the Royal Grenada Police Force Band, the La Bay Folk Group and the Tivoli Drummers, just to name a few. Calypsonians like ‘Papa Jerry’, ‘Mr. West’, ‘Tiger T’ and ‘Martha B’ also gave the crowd a taste of their renditions for this year’s calypso competitions. The 2006 Miss Rainbow City Queen Contestants also graced the stage during the evening time.

The launch was an impressive one and the organizers will have to continue working assiduously to try and emulate the sort of success the festival experienced during its earlier years. This is one of the biggest functions taking place in the parish of St. Andrew during the entire year. People from around the world usually visit the historic little town of Grenville to be integrally involved in the various activities taking place and also wholeheartedly enjoy the magical ambiance that is created during the two-day festival.

This gives the small business owners and manufacturers an ideal opportunity to showcase their products and try to develop new markets. In the past, many of these small businessmen complained about being unable to showcase their crafts and other products because the money charged by the organizers for them to do so was somewhat exorbitant. These people are an important part of the festival and this year, the organizers of Rainbow City need to look at putting some sort of system in place that would allow these persons to come out in their numbers and display their products. This can help to further stimulate economic activity in the parish and many persons throughout Grenada can benefit from this initiative.

Once managed properly, the Rainbow City Festival has the potential to develop into an authentic world-class product, which could rival some of the premier events taking place in various parts of the world, like the St. Lucia Jazz Festival.




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