Visitors

‘Scaled down' fish festival'

ALTHOUGH organisers have had to cut activities from the 2008 festival to ensure the importance 31-year-old Oistins Fish ival was not compromised year.
New Christ Church South MP, Minister of Transport John Boyce, delivered the feature address at the official opening of the festival on Saturday, March 22nd , 2008.
Festival chairman Dan Carter his committee was concentrating activities "only in ns" this year and although it dropped events that were not sponsored, mainly as a cost-cutting measure, "we would maintain core activities," he said.
We have reviewed the festival programme to determine what areas an improvement upon . . . . This year we were just hoping to become more efficient and produce a better product," added the festival chairman, who has been with the committee since its inception in 1977.
The Police Flood-lit Tattoo was at the Christ Church Foundation School on Thursday, March 20th 2008.

The Christ Church Foundation School Orchestra, which has won rave reviews for its public performances, including appearances on the hotel circuit, will make its festival debut at the opening ceremony.
The school orchestra will be followed on the Bay Garden bandstand by the Banks Steel Orchestra, while the Digicel sponsored cultural entertainment will take place at the Boatyard — the old venue of the festival's opening ceremony.
The Chefette-sponsored Fish Boning competition, perhaps the main highlight of the festival since its inception, now has prize monies totaling $4 500 that includes a cash award for the "catch of the season".
Banks Breweries has added a "bonus" to the prize money for the Greasy Pole competition, a crowd pleaser on the opening and closing afternoons of the festival.
The Net-throwing competition is being sponsored this year by the Silver Fox Arcade with prizes of $400, $300 and $200.
FirstCaribbean International Bank has put up $1 000 for the Dolphin-Skinning competition.
Apart from SuperCentre, Southern Investments and Federal Bookmakers, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), which joined the list of sponsors about two years ago, Ocean Fisheries and some smaller businesses operating out of Oistins, have also become donors and contributors to the festival'sfunding.

Lady St. John But the committee is still limping along, burdened with rising administrative costs, which have spiralled from less than $20 000 in the early years of the weekend festival, when participants virtually donated time and performances and utility services were free, to more than $90 000 in recent years, with increased costs in every category.

Oistins Fish Festival, brainchild of Lady St John, wife of the late Christ Church South MP, Sir Harold St John, was conceptualised to stimulate fisherfolks' pride and self-esteem and to create a new entrepreneur class in the South Coast town.

by Charles Harding (P.R.O)