Primary School Arts Festival returns with a record number of participants

Following a two-year absence, the Professional Secretariat and Consultancy Service Primary Schools Art Festival is back with a record number of schools participating.{{more}}

Director of Culture Anthony Theobalds revealed at a press conference held on Thursday, January 25, that 66 Primary schools will be participating in this year’s festival.

“This is the first time we’ve had so many schools entering,” Theobalds said.

He further explained that the objective of the festival is to seek to develop a sense of cooperation among the schools. “The PRSPAF program is not a competition”, he stated.

He explained that all schools participating will be featured on the grand dates of the festival, which runs from February 1 to March 7.

“The program creates an avenue for showcasing its talent that is discovered in the schools and as a result we will have performances in songs, solo and choirs, we will have choral speeches. We expect individual poems and monologues and we do hope we will find a stand-up comedian or two…,” Theobalds said.

The students are also expected to perform skits and plays during the festival, according to Theobalds.

Meanwhile, head of the Professional Secretariat and Consultancy Service Camille Crichton says the organization continues to honour its corporate duty in nurturing young people by being the festival’s major sponsor.

“We have kept our goal by investing in our young people, especially in these trying economic times. This translates into the development of our nation’s youth.

“This also acts as a commitment to our children’s development, central to the beliefs of our organization,” Crichton added.

She, however, explained that the main objective for sponsoring the festival is to provide young actors and actresses with a platform where they may gain the confidence to move on to greater heights in many different areas such as art, music, dance and drama.

“Drama is an integral part of a child’s education. It may not be an examined subject for Common Entrance, but few will doubt the benefit it brings to children’s self-esteem and communications skills,” she said.

The Professional Secretariat and Consultancy Service Primary Schools Art Festival gets underway on Wednesday, February 1, with three schools, and preliminaries are expected to run until March 1.

The grand shows will be on March 6 and 7 at the Peace Memorial Hall. (AA)