cost 2010

Visitors

IT IS COSTING the organising committee of the Oistins Fish Festival more than $100 000 to stage the annual event and the support of at least one lead corporate sponsor would go a long way towards meeting the challenge.

This assessment was given by chairman Dan Carter as he and the rest of his team fined tuned plans and preparations ahead of the 2010 event.The former educator has had a long association with the extravaganza and he said sourcing funding and support has become key to their efforts. "We rely fairly heavily on corporate sponsorship because we get minimal support from Government. We get about $8 000 from Government. The festival has grown so much that we have to rely on at least ten or so corporate bodies to really help us."

Over the years the organisers have received invaluable support from companies including Banks (B'dos) Breweries Ltd. Two fast food operators have outlets in the Oistins area and both have thrown their support behind the venture. "Chefette Restaurants Ltd is tied to the fish boning competition and they also expanded their support by donating a prize for the best catch of the season. Fishermen who land the most fish in the week before the festival, they are now given prizes."

KFC gives its backing to the gospel aspect of the festival and City of Bridgetown (COB) credit union is now on board. Explaining the cost, the chairman said there were utility costs to be borne as well as overtime fees associated with having health and environmental personnel on site during the days of the festival to ensure that standards were adhered to and fees to the various bands and groups which entertain patrons.

There is also "a corps of young men to help us with the cleaning".When Saturday activities conclude, the cleaning crew goes into action under cover of darkness and they are pressed into action again when the final curtain comes down. "All this represents costs which crept in over the years."

Oistins Fish Festival was launched some 33 years ago and has emerged as a must visit for thousands of Barbadians and visitors every Easter weekend, but there are certain costs which the organisers must cover.Noting that they were no major obstacles in their way for the staging of the 2010 festival to proceed, Carter said the team would still welcome some additional corporate support for an activity which has earned its place on the National calendar.

Carter was part of the organising effort from the very outset when he was president of the youth group Hilltops. He said the idea of the festival probably arose with members of the youth group but he was invited to be a part of the venture by Lady St John, widow of former Parliamentary Representative of the area, Sir Harold Bernard St John. It was at her behest that he was invited "to the very first formal meeting" ahead of the inaugural festival and "from there it just developed".Carter recalled that Lady St John initially took on the role of chairperson and she was followed by Herbie Yearwood and he is a member of the organising committee still.

As would be expected, the festival format underwent "a lot of changes over the years". The chairman recalled what it was like when the festival was planned around "the old Oistins" but recent developmental efforts offered more space to the organisers "and we have been able to broaden the accommodation in terms of the festival".

Initially Oistins Fish Festival "was fairly home-based" in outlook. The chairman remembers when swimming races and sand castle construction were among the key activities of the festival and "the main event was always the fish boning competition" . According to Carter there was a view among committee members that the person who won the fish boning competition should be regarded as "the Queen of the Festival" rather than the contestant who emerged the winner of the beauty pageant.
Initially the dolphin skinning competition was not included on the list of competitive events. It was added within the last 12 years and has enjoyed increasing popularity. "We had a pageant for three or four years, but it never evolved into what we were hoping to see. We also introduced in the last four years a lecture to pay tribute to the memory of the late Sir Harold Bernard St John."
The 10K road race developed into "an institution of the festival" and has achieved much popularity, even with visitors to the island who use it to test their athletic prowess. According to the chairman of the festival committee, the road race_ attracts anywhere between 85 to 100 competitors. Noting that the festival was designed to highlight the industry and the positives of the Oistins community, Carter said he made a conscious effort to involve those who live and work in the surrounding areas.
As the festival has grown, so has the time required to plan.
In this regard, "one lady, Pat Sargeant, she has been put in charge of the fish boning competition and dolphin skinning competition". It was a good decision, too, given that she has expertise in these areas.
According to the chairman, this aspect has developed into "a major task". He said "in the early days you could start planning about four months before".
Such has been the growth of the festival that having taken over the chairmanship of the committee, "I find that as soon as one festival ends I have to start thinking about the next one". Though conceding that the behind-the-scenes work has become a major undertaking he said that he was fortunate to have some dedicated volunteers working alongside him sharing the responsibility and the load.
Oistins Fish Festival 2010 launches today with a 9:30 a.m. church service at Christ Church Parish Church it takes significant effort from Carter and his team to make the event happen.
The Sir Harold Bernard St John lecture was unavoidably dropped from this year's programme but the Police Tattoo will go ahead as usual on Thursday, April 1, on the pasture of the Christ Church Foundation School starting at 7 p.m.