EVEN WITH THE National Cultural Foundation (NCF) pouring its resources into CARIFESTA, there was still space for the yearly Youth Pan Project camp to flourish.
Last Friday at the Queen’s Park steel shed, dozens of children between the ages of nine and 18 showcased the skills they honed over the last three weeks at the camp, which was sponsored by the Central Bank of Barbados and the NCF.
Camp director Kentley Gill admitted this year’s edition of the Youth Pan Project camp had been difficult to organise.
He said this was due to the NCF’s involvement in preparing for CARIFESTA.
However, he made a point to thank the NCF for still being accommodating and allowing them to use the Queen’s Park Steel Shed.
“This year was quite difficult to execute because of the fact the National Cultural Foundation is preparing for CARIFESTA,” Gill said.
“So it would’ve put some strain on us being able to share the venue where they are having rehearsals and there is construction going on at the Queen’s Park venue,” he added.
This year’s project, entitled Rhythm & Mas – We Coming Again, was dedicated to celebrating the art and culture of the Caribbean, Gill said.
And the juniors, intermediates and seniors all reflected just that as they performed a selection of tunes they learned over the three-week period to impress those gathered.
The juniors (nine to 12 years old) performed songs such as Marzville’s Give It To Ya and Hypasounds’ Sugar Rush while the intermediates (13 to 15 years old) played a reggae medley.
The seniors (15 to 18 years old), however, stole the show as they played a lengthy soca medley much to the delight of the audience. (AD)
