There are no doubts that popular Reggae artiste, Buju Banton, wowed fans at the 21st edition of the yearly World Creole Music Festival (WCMF) which held at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium. Both the young and the old gyrated to his stellar performance, and no one could easily say he fell short of his reputation. He even donned an outfit that glorified the Dominican culture and values, further lending respect to his stage performances.
The Jamaican-born dancehall rave thrilled thousands of fans with his oldies such as “Destiny”, “Close one Yesterday”, “Not an easy road” and “Cry no More”. Other top artistes that also played at the festival included Extasy Band, Bunji Garlin & Fay Ann, Zouk all Stars, Gordon Henderson, Mel, Princess Lover, Eric Virgal, Oswald, Ophelia, Linford John and Triple Kay among others.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit commended the organizers of the event for a job well done, particularly applauding the efforts of Marva Williams, events director for the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA); Director of Tourism and CEO of Discover Dominica Authority, Colin Piper; and Minister of Tourism, Robert Tonge.
“Those of us who go to the event only see the end product but we don’t appreciate the work that has to be done months ahead prior to the event,” Skerrit said. “It’s a huge undertaking to coordinate all of these activities, different stakeholders, different service providers, different artistes, different managers, different bands, different groups, airline tickets, hotel accommodations…”
The prime minister scored this year’s WCMF very high, saying he received very positive feedback from patrons and members of the international community about the festival.
Meanwhile, some journalists complained that they were not able to interview Buju Banton after his performance, expressing their displeasure that he had to leave the arena the moment he left the stage. Director of Tourism and CEO of Discover Dominica Authority, Colin Piper, said the tight security was part of the conditions for his performance at the music festival.
“Certain artistes have certain criteria, so as part of their agreement to perform, you either accept those criteria or you don’t,” Piper explained. “When I looked at the documents, they are not specific to the World Creole Music Festival; they are specific to Buju Banton as an artiste and entertainer and certain terms and conditions they asked the organizers to meet as part of their willingness to perform.”
In a related development, events promoter and veteran radio personality, DJ Leroy Wadix Charles, revealed that the WCMF is established on Dominica’s indigenous heritage to promote local talents and celebrate cultural values. He decried relegating local artistes to the back-burner in favour of regional or international artistes, saying this gives the foreign artistes the leverage to make unsual demands before they perform. Charles praised the Creole essence of the annual festival, adding the government should make it a crucial foundation for music and culture and governance.
This article is copyright © 2019 DOM767
