IF ANY FESTIVAL is to be meaningful, survive and reach full maturity it must be rooted in society.

Those words of advice to the organisers of the Holetown Festival came yesterday from Minister of Culture and Community Development Steve Blackett who was speaking at the launch of the 32nd annual festival.

"It must reflect and maintain its contact with the culture out of which it has emerged. To ignore this will be to end up with a celebration which is artificial, lacking in relevance, and which will soon lose its appeal for both Barbadians and visitors," he observed.

Blackett said that the contribution of festivals like the one at Holetown could not be underestimated, since the Holetown Festival helped to boost revenue for a number of businesses in the tourism and other sectors.

"It provides added value to the visitor experience, particularly for those who are interested in the heritage tourism aspect of our product.

"The organisers of this festival can be proud of the fact that it has become a regular scheduled feature for many a repeat visitor to the island....An even greater achievement, to my mind, is that a significant number of Barbadians living overseas return home specifically to participate in these activities," Blackett added.

The opening ceremony saw presentations from The Barbados Community College Orchestra, Raphael Saul, Dancin' Africa and Crystal Cummins-Beckles.

As is the custom, a number of people were rewarded for their contributions to the festival. This year's recipients were: Morris Greenidge, Lucean Layne, the Barbados Library Service, Rotherly Construction, Garbage Master and Super Style Shoe Shop.
(YB)