Barbados Labour Party (BLP), you have lift-off! The island’s oldest political party hit the ground running Saturday night, staging an entertainment-filled campaign launch at the Weymouth Playing Field just outside Bridgetown.
More than three hours before the scheduled 6:30 p.m. start, the cricket ground was a hive of activity, with hopeful vendors setting up their stalls, volunteers making last-minute adjustments, and engineers making their final sound checks.
Then the sea of red came in with the night.
BLP faithfuls, decked out in the party’s traditional colour, some of them waving flags like they were on Spring Garden for Kadooment Day, ran around the venue as the tempo rose.
Deejays kept the large crowd in a partisan mood, playing a number of songs dedicated to party leader Mia Mottley.
Kirk Humphrey and Santia Bradshaw, the BLP’s candidates for St Michael South and St Michael South East, respectively, also got extended shout-outs from DJ Turkey during his 30-minute set.
By the time the first strains of the National Anthem were played at 6:42 p.m., limited space could be found at the venue, with hundreds taking up strategic spots in their lounge chairs.
The event was opened by League of Young Socialists members Jamila Burgess and Davidson Ishmael.
The party’s general secretary and campaign manager Dr Jerome Walcott, in welcoming BLP support, reminded those on hand the party had been rubbing shoulders with Barbadians for almost two years as a precursor to the May 24 General Election.
“Tonight the march begins. This will be a march to victory on May 24,” he told the crowd.
The fans were then treated to early performances by Dancin’ Africa, Pastor John Yarde and Mark Lord, along with three-minute speeches by a number of Barbadians upset with the path the country had been taken down by the incumbent Democratic Labour Party administration.
Introduction of the 30 BLP candidates began at 7:30 p.m. with St Lucy’s Peter Phillips, St Michael North West’s Neil Rowe and St Michael West Central’s Ian Gooding-Edghill being the first to take their seats on the large podium set up in the centre of the pasture. (BA)
