Visitors of all backgrounds urged to attend Haitian Flag Day event

Fri, May 13th 2016, 04:23 PM

HAITIAN Flag Day Committee Chairman Robert Dieudonne yesterday urged Bahamians from all backgrounds to participate in this year’s Haitian Flag Day Festival, set to take place Saturday at the Botanical Gardens.

At a press conference at the restaurant Paradis des Amis on Minnie Street, Mr. Dieudonne called for Bahamians, Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent to come out and “experience the culture, art and expression of Haiti”.

According to Mr. Dieudonne, this year’s Haitian Flag Day will feature a Creole rap competition, as well as a kompa music concert with a variety of performances by bands from both the Haitian and Bahamian community. The festival will also see participation from Gazzman Couleur, a renowned kompa musician.

The festival is also slated to feature a number of food booths providing a fusion of unique Haitian, Bahamian and Jamaican dishes. Persons attending the festival will also have opportunities to win prizes throughout the event, courtesy of the events sponsors.

“I’d say to the Bahamians, and the tourists, and Bahamians of Haitian descent and Haitian nationals living in the Bahamas who haven’t had the opportunity to really enjoy their own culture, come out and celebrate with us that day,” Mr. Dieudonne said.

“It’s a celebration of Haitian culture, in the sense that you’re actually involved in it. Take this moment to celebrate with them, celebrate with us, because we’ll be there in numbers but also in true unity, in the sense that they acknowledge that they’re in The Bahamas, but they’re also acknowledging who they are.”

According to Mr. Dieudonne, Haitian Flag Day honours the date of May 18, 1803, which Haitians regard as an iconic date in Haiti’s historical struggle for freedom. He said the holiday has been celebrated in The Bahamas since 2002, when a group of Bahamians of Haitian descent wanted to “show reverence and show respect to their culture”.

However, Mr. Dieudonne said what originally started as a “cultural event” at the Victory Church of the Nazarene on Minnie Street soon outgrew the walls of the church, ultimately maturing into the festival that it is today.

“It’s really a promotion of Haitian culture that’s done once a year, and so we’d like to do it in a very demonstrative way and just wait till the next year and do it again,” Mr. Dieudonne said. “It’s going to be far better in many different ways than ever than what we have done over the last 14 years.”

The festival starts at noon on Saturday.

By Nico Scavella, Tribune Staff Reporter

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