Should all festival events be free?
Chairman of the Virgin Islands Festival and Fairs Committee (VIFFC), Dirk Walters, has defended his committee’s work amidst complaints by some residents about fees to enter the festival village on paid nights.
Walters said 5 of the 10 nights during the Festival 2023 season are free. But he said it is not feasible to make all the festivities free because of the huge cost it takes to organise and host the events.
The VIFFC received one million dollars from the government this year to help support its efforts in staging various activities, including the annual Emancipation Festival and the Easter Festival held earlier this year.
But Walters, in detailing how some of the monies were spent, explained that there were exorbitant costs involved in hosting the Emancipation Festival, including payments for various stages and lighting and the very popular Coney Island which cost upwards of $300,000.
He expressed that many service providers, plumbers, carpenters and others often demanded partial payment upfront for their services.
“I met it this way. Dirk Walters did not start charging for festival…” Walters said on the Talking Points Show recently. “So, the reason for charging is to help to make back some of this money that’s been spent.”
Free festival?
He also pointed out that there has been talk by some persons who want the festival events to be held free of cost, similar to what happens in the neighbouring US Virgin Islands.
The VIFFC chairman said persons should note that the festival committee can host events that are free to the public. However, they won’t have the same impact because many of the attractions people enjoy would be left out.
“It can happen, you know, very easily. We could do a festival for a hundred thousand dollars if you want, because guess what, we don’t have to have a huge stage. But you have to decide at what kind of level, what caliber and what standard of production you want,” Walters explained.
He said considerations also have to be made for the involvement of local culture and heritage as well as the type of entertainment that will be included in such a case.
Walters said this conversation can be had very easily with the public and the government, and a final decision can be made on whether the government needs to chip in with more funding and how more sponsors or partners can be brought on board.
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Festivals should be free. So should food, transportation, water, electricity, housing, etc. we shouldn’t have to pay for necessities and our government should coddle us from cradle to grave. Then we can focus our attention on more important things like da gurls at club, boat races, getting good green, and liming.
Oh wait we already do that…
MONACO MODEL
MONACO MODEL
MONACO MODEL
Free and Easy !
For some that are deserving, yes namely all
BVIslanders.
festivals in 2020 and 2021 were very inexpensive and quietly enjoyed by many BVI islanders.
So as a competent Chairman you are saying that in order to have an all free festival, we’ll have to TAKE a down graded – below standard production and set up?
Are you serious? What we won’t take is your shared incompetency
Look at their account’s before and after the festival. Hope he and his cronies are not in charge next year. With $1million of tax payers money to spend it should have been free. Please submit your report in a timely manner. Thank you .
Even if them man submit a report them know how to cut a paste to make it look good cause who going to question the amount spend to certain individual when all of them getting a cut of people tax money … but later down you will observed some of them buy better ride or start building . Let me stop cause all you will hear you to watchy watchy……
“So, the reason for charging is to help to make back some of this money.
We need to sit at really decide what we are celebrating. I used to go to the free village every night and see Sparrow,Kitchener, Joseph Niles, milo and the kings etc. These artist are already paid. Why rape us for our own tax money?
BVI is behind the power curve and the USVI is eating their lunch.. The Emancipation Celebration should be free..
5 bands a night until 4.30am is expensive. Plenty of entertainment for 18-40 loud noise party crowd. But the village is empty all day, nothing for the Church going , family friendly, daytime activity, over 50’s who are also taxpayers! Has our culture narrowed to loud music, vulgarity, coney island and a parade?
Yes music festivql started off free.stthomas carnival is free.
When you going spend a million dollars of public funds on a festival to celebrate freedom it’s crazy that the same public have to pay to go to it. Is like this thing is a private business only that they don’t have to find their own capital like a private business would have to.