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Less prize $$, no pageant & no mega Int'l artistes for VG Festival 2016
Minister for Education and Culture Honourable Myron V. Walwyn also claimed that the Virgin Gorda Festival Sub Committee received a cheque for $100,000 just two weeks ago for the 49th VG Easter Festival which will be held between March 26 and 28, 2016.
This year's Virgin Gorda Easter Festival is themed 'Celebrating 2016 with Class; A Festival of Pure Mass!' The honouree this year is Franka Pickering, and thus the Festival Village will be called the Franka Pickering Festiville.
This news site stands by its first and accurate story published on February 24, 2016 which said that as at that date, the Virgin Gorda Festival Sub-Committee had not received its allocation for this year's Easter Festival. We have been reliably informed that the cheque was taken to Virgin Gorda on a ferry just yesterday February 25, 2016 and handed to the Sub-Committee.
$100K enough but cost cutting still necessary
Asked whether he thought $100,000 was enough, Minister Walwyn said the committee has been proving that $100,000 is enough.
“I met with them recently and we are discussing ways in making the Festival more cost efficient. Sasha D. A. Flax [the Virgin Gorda Festival Sub-Committee Chairman] came up with some very good ways of cutting costs and we are concentrating on that. So you will see that we will cut cost but still maintaining the good quality that you see from the line up that we have,” Hon Walwyn said.
Minister tries to insult VINO
Asked by this news site when it was that the committee received the money from the Government, the Minister said, “Based on the report that I read in your newspaper, you indicated that they did not receive any money. But it seems to be becoming commonplace for you to ill advise the public. The VI Festival and Fairs Committee received a cheque two weeks ago. They were working out budgetary issues with the Virgin Gorda Festival Sub-Committee and when that was completed then the cheque was given to the Virgin Gorda Festival Sub-Committee to carry out their work.”
Ministry of Finance holding up outstanding Festival payments!
With regards to Festival payments outstanding for 2015, the Minister said they have done all they were expected to do in the Ministry of Education. “We have given that information to the Ministry of Finance and we are waiting for them to pay the vendors. I have received an assurance from them that they are working assiduously on it. I apologise to the vendors that it is taking so long but I know that they will be paid very soon,” he said.
Asked to confirm whether her committee received Government's cheque of $100,000,” Ms Flax said "yes."
When asked if the money was late or whether it came in good time, she said, “It came in good time,” and that it will not affect her planning.
Ms Flax would not say when she actually got the cheque.
No pageant
Meanwhile, Ms Flax confirmed that this year there will be no Festival pageant, customary during the Virgin Gorda Easter Festival.
“Unfortunately this year there will be no pageant. We have decided to hold off on that,” she said, adding that a few of the girls who they were looking at to take part in the pageant are busy with studies and prefer to be a part of the 50th anniversary Festival and pageant next year.
She said that next year there will be Miss Virgin Gorda, in addition to Miss Gorgeous, Mr GQ and a Prince and Princess pageant.
Decreases in prize monies
Flax said there should be increases for the parade prizes. But other events such as the Calypso competition, the prizes are either expected to stay the same or decrease.
“For the Calypso show we are still up in the air on that as to what we will be giving the monarch. As of now we are looking at between $4,000 and $5,000,” she said, adding that last year the Calypso monarch went home with $5,000.
Asked why it is that she wanted to reduce the Calypso prize money, she said that she met with the calypsonians some weeks ago and discussed a few areas where costs will be cut. “It is not set in stone but it would either remain the same or be reduced,” she said.
On board this year as a Platinum sponsor of the Festival is CCT, represented by CEO Romney A. Penn. When this news site asked him what was the level of CCT's support to the VG Festival, Minister Walwyn grabbed the microphone and said that platinum sponsorship starts at $10,000. “We are not going to reveal the exact amount that CCT has given to us,” he said.
No mega artists
While some foreign artists are billed for the Festival weekend, they can be by no stretch of the imagination considered mega artists. Among them are Ricardo Dru and Blaxx with Roy Cape and the All Stars of Trinidad, Cool Session Brass, Poizon Band and Kylo and Stylee Band all of the USVI.
Flax said there is a chance that there might be a wild-card artist who will be announced at a later date. “I am not giving any guarantees at this time.”
She said the reason for the scaling back on big international artists has to do with cost cutting. “We have to be responsible as it relates to spending. Not because it is Festival means that we have to go crazy with how we are bringing artists. I stand behind this line up fully [and believe] that it will be an entertaining weekend,” she said.
At this stage Honourable Walwyn chimed in to say that they don't want a situation again where local acts cannot be paid because the international artists gone home with the lion's share of the money.
“There has been a long discussion in Standing Finance Committee about the overall cost of Festival...whether we are putting enough money into it and whether we have too many Festivals. When we looked at the line items entertainment was where most of the money is spent. As it is now the overseas acts are the ones to take the bigger amount of monies but they also bring in the biggest amount of revenue,” he said.
Hoh Walwyn said, however, that the local entertainers end up as the ones who have to wait to be paid. He said the decision was then taken by his Ministry to reduce the number of overseas acts.
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42 Responses to “Less prize $$, no pageant & no mega Int'l artistes for VG Festival 2016”
Complain and B.... To pave the way for all of us and the Educational system. Stop being a bunch of the Government should hand me everything on a silver platter moochers. The Government don't owe you a damn thing.
Oh, hii Hon Walwyn!! Loving the tie.