Dear Editor,
WE would greatly appreciate having this letter published, because we feel it is very important for public information. We had sent a press release on May 4, 2016, but we did not see an article in your publication on May 5 as requested, hence the need for this letter to be published to better inform the public about what had transpired.
With great sadness, we inform the Guyanese nation, and in particular the Indian community, that Indian Arrival Fest 2016 — the grand culture, food and beverage festival planned to celebrate the 178th anniversary of Indian Arrival in Guyana and set for Thursday, May 5, 2016 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre — had to be cancelled because of unforeseen circumstances, compounded by the inclement weather.
We hereby apologise to all our sponsors, food concessionaires, artistes, invited guest and patrons for that development; it was a great disappointment to all of us, but please be reassured that better arrangements would be made next year to cater for rain.
The rain fell every day for about one week, thus the lawns of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre became very saturated. For an event of the magnitude we had envisaged, that venue needed at least two (2) days of preparation; i.e. stage, sound system, lights, chairs, decorations, food and drink booth, garbage receptacles and other contingencies.
After consulting our major sponsors, who felt the inclement weather would continue, the decision was taken on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016 to cancel the event. Thus we immediately issued a press release to this effect, and had hoped it would have been published on May 5th. We had paid for announcements on both radio and television on May 5th, 2016 (four (4) announcements per hour for 8 hours) to inform the public of the said cancellation.
Patrons who had purchased tickets for Indian Arrival Fest 2016 are asked to seek a full refund from the person or outlet from whom they had purchased the ticket; but those persons who had received free tickets from our corporate partners should please do the honourable thing and don’t try to deceive.
Indian Culture International takes this opportunity to honour eight (8) Guyanese artistes of Indian origin for their outstanding, dedicated and distinguished service to Guyana as national and international singers, and for their invaluable contribution to the protection, preservation and promotion of Indian Culture.
Indian Culture International wishes to announce the Gold Medal of Service award to the following five (5) artistes: Mohan Nandu (Semi-Classical/Filmi) and Teajman (Classical/Taan), for their more than 65 years of service; Chatenauth Singh (Classical/Taan) and Ramkissoon Singh (Semi-Classical/ Filmi) for their more than 55 years of service; and Terry Gajraj (Chutney) for over 40 years of service and as an international recording artiste.
Further, we wish to announce the Silver Medal of Service award to the following three (3) artistes: Devendra Pooran, Celia Samaroo and Sookrane Boodhoo, for their more than 40 years of service as national and international singers (Filmi).
At the earliest, most convenient time to all of the artistes on Sunday, 16th October, 2016, a Special Concert, “Indian Legends Spectacular”, would be staged at the National Cultural Centre, and these awards would be presented. Everyone should please make a special effort to be present and participate in this historic occasion.
We would like to congratulate and wish all our Indian brothers and sisters a belated Happy Arrival Day; and on the occasion of the Guyana Golden Jubilee Celebration, A Happy Golden Jubilee to all Guyanese!
Again, our sincere apologies to all Guyana, and we regret any inconvenience the cancellation might have caused.
Indian Culture International is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of information, education, sports and culture.
SRI C. YOOGEANDRA