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Caribana, Barbuda's major festivity, is to feature new additions this year, as the organisers seek to find innovative ways of minimizing expenses while delivering a remarkable product.
“All of this is in efforts to just cut costs,” Co-ordinator of Culture and Youth Affairs on the Barbuda Council Maureen Lee-Simon said. Under the theme “Resurrecting the Bu-yard Roots and Culture for 2012,” Caribana is scheduled for May 20– 28, giving Barbudans more days to enjoy calypso, soca, and seaside fun and jamming. Bu-yard is the colloquial term for Barbudans.
Lee-Simon said the week of activities, centered on the sister isle’s cultural heritage, will kick off with a prayer breakfast starting at Madison Square and culminating at Martello Tower. This event, she noted, is aimed at incorporating the Christian community, who might wish to only participate in the cultural aspects of the festival.
New pageants are also in the works: Miss Big & Beautiful, along with the Little Miss and Junior Miss pageants, which will replace the traditional queen show. The Calypso Monarch has been shifted from Sunday to Saturday.
“We are having the band over for the Sir McLean Emanuel show and as opposed to stretching it out to the Sunday for the Calypso Monarch show, we are having the monarch show right after that,” Lee-Simon said. The co-ordinator said the packed agenda would be testament that more can be done with a smaller budget.
