by Shayne Alexander

Celebrations of Emancipation month continued on Sunday, August 20, 2006 when a concert was staged at Fort Charlotte.

Minister of Culture, René Baptiste opened the festival by greeting all in attendance. She also expressed her delight at how this year’s activities were taking shape and wished that it could continue for years to come.

The Minister also voiced her gratitude to the Indian Heritage Foundation for the part they were playing in the staging of the concert and in sharing their heritage with the Vincentians.{{more}}

The President of the Indian Heritage Foundation, Elmore Gaymes thanked Baptiste for allowing the foundation to show the Indian heritage in Emancipation month to Vincentians. He also gave the audience a historical background on Indians in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Having the audience’s keen attention, he then introduced Osley Baptiste who sang a song in Hindu, following which he explained to the crowd the meaning of the song.

Following this, the show was transformed into “a concert and Indian fashion show”. One by one, Indian clothing was modeled with the explanations given to the significance of each item of clothing.

The concert activities began with drumming from the Chatoyer Youth Movement. There were also different dance segments that saw the groups “Chatoyer Youths” and “Friends” portraying different types of dancing. The crowd was also entertained by Nickiesha Bibby who sang two original compositions.

To close the event, a historical background about Fort Charlotte was presented by Christine Martin and a musical rendition was provided by Elite Steel Orchestra.