AFTER some backlash, officials have scheduled a two-day event at the end of the month to showcase performances by local artists in celebration of the country’s independence, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Iram Lewis announced yesterday.
The event will take place on July 30 and 31 and will involve 48 artists in recognition of the country’s 48 years of independence.
This comes after some Bahamian artists expressed displeasure over this year’s Independence Day celebration leaving out a mixture of top local secular acts in favour of a Christian theme. They also complained the songs scheduled to be used in the event were not locally written or produced.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Lewis said the upcoming event will be live-streamed for viewers.
“Remember, this is not the Independence Secretariat. This was a direct answer to a proposal that was given to us by the creative community. So again this is something that is totally different…This is not a part of that particular celebration (set for Independence Day) because that is already pre-recorded and packaged for broadcast.”
He said the dates set for the end of the month will allow artists to prepare.
“During the meeting with the creative community, because of the time constraints with only three days to go prior to the event that was planned, through their professional approach they made it clear that they won’t have the time to do anything of quality on a level that they are capable of,” Mr Lewis said.
“So, it would appear to be something that we just snap together and it was not going to properly represent their capability. So their suggestion, and, of course, we did not set the timeline, allow them to give us a suggested date and we want to keep it in the month of July, which is still our celebration month. So, understanding their position and recognising the fact they want to put their best foot forward we allowed them to pick the dates which will give them more time to put on a more professional event.”
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