Celebration of Chinese culture, cuisine 

Thousands of Barbadians and visitors alike gathered in the spacious facility of Carifesta House, Waterford, St Michael to witness the 12th Fish and Dragon Festival.

“I have never seen so many young people. I’m talking about those from primary and secondary schools, early 20s,” said producer Adisa AJA Andwele, during a post-production interview.

It was a sentiment underscored by the youthful audience serenaded by top local entertainers and personnel of the Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill recently.

Patrons, which included a well-represented cross-section of ages, not only experienced the Chinese cuisine but revisited some of Barbados’ delicacies.

This year – the celebration of the horse, the festival was moved to Carifesta House because of renovations to its traditional venue, the gymnasium at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.

“Carifesta [House] was the only venue that had a roof,” Andwele said. “You can’t keep doing things the same way all the time, there’s nothing wrong with a change.

“And a venue change means that you will bring a different perspective to the event. I would like to explore keeping it there again because it brought a whole different dynamic and excitement,” he said.

Andwele said the public feedback was amazing while also crediting the Central Bank of Barbados and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Barbados for their sponsorship of the festival.

Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong, who attended the festival, said it was an expression of the flourishing relationship between Barbados and the People’s Republic of China going back to 1977.

He spoke of China’s contribution to Barbados as a result of the friendship – the Chinese medical cooperation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the road-building contracts in the Scotland District, the Chinese gift of a new national stadium that is under construction, a partnership in developing a global technical vocational education institution, the partnership in developing and building the  Barbados Food and Agriculture Institute in St Lucy, and the University of the West Indies technology institution in China where local students take a course in technology half of the time studying in the Caribbean and the other
two years in China.

“I was very pleased to see the level of Barbadian support for the festival. I mean, there were literally thousands of people in attendance and this is very important because it comes at a time when some other powers are trying to impose a Cold War logic on Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean,” Comissiong said, as he hoped the festival would grow from strength to strength. (JS)

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