CARIFESTA – Caribbean Festival of Arts
The Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) is a roving multi-disciplinary art festival which has been held in various CARICOM countries since its establishment in 1972. It is a regional forum where artists, performers and other persons in the field of culture meet and exchange ideas through presentations of music, dance, drama, exhibitions on art, sculpture, poetry and symposia, among others. The CARICOM Secretariat through the Council on Human and Social Development (COHSOD) has since been involved not only in the shaping and preservation of CARIFESTA but also in promoting a coordinated approach to cultural policy development as embodied in the CARICOM Regional Cultural Policy endorsed by the Caribbean Community in 1994.
The early years of CARIFESTA were captured from the Newspaper clippings collection sourced from The National Library of Guyana. The CARIFESTA collection currently covers information emanating from all the CARIFESTAs held to date. The Collection is supplemented by contributions from the Directorate of Human and Social Development through its Culture desk which liaises with the various Directors of Culture in the region and with the Secretariats of the Host Country.
The Collection includes consultants’ and country reports, articles extracted from magazines, correspondence, press releases, information leaflets, presentations at Symposia, programmes, various CARIFESTA themes; posters, photographs and newspaper clippings.