Promoter announces changes in format for 2014 Canfest

Fans of the annual Canfest charity concert can expect a number of key changes to the event.

This year, organisers have decided to shelf the custom of patrons bringing cans of food to ticket outlets to redeem tickets for the show, and are instead asking for people to pay cash for a ticket{{more}} to enter the Victoria Park next Friday, December 19.

Spokesperson for the organisers, Jemron Delpesche, said at a media conference on Tuesday that this decision was taken in order to alleviate a number of challenges faced by the organisers over the years.

“We are asking persons to deposit ten dollars at the ticket outlets which would mainly be the Coreas outlets: City Store and Pharmacy, ACE 2 and Coreas Food Mart.

“This particular method would lend for a better distribution process because one of the challenges that we had in the past was persons would have just bought, lets say, three sardines so we have an overwhelming amount of sardines to give away and then there is the issue of the expiry date on some stuff as well, so it was a bit challenging to distribute a proper supply to the different charities.”

Delpesche indicated that when a patron pays the cash, this money will be deposited into an account set up by Coreas Hazells, to which the charities could resort.

According to Delpesche, the charities would be able to draw down their allotted amount from the account over a period of time.

He said that charities to benefit from Canfest this year include the Salvation Army, House of Hope, St Benedict’s, the Red Cross Society, Lewis Punnett Home, the mental hospital, the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, and a number of other individual and groups.

The spokesman also indicated that apart from the ticketing process, the show will feature for the first time, an overseas soca artiste.

In the past, the show mainly featured visiting reggae and dancehall acts.

Trinidadian soca artist Shall Marshall will complement Jamaican dancehall artist Chino, as well as a foreign DJ, and local artistes, whom he said would be announced soon.

“I would also like to take the opportunity to correct something: one of our radio stations would have been pushing Baby Cham as the artiste that was coming, but the reality is that he was considered, and negotiations would have been in place, however due to some logistic and cost factors that could not have become a reality, so the aim is not to mislead persons, but we had to correct that at last minute,” Delpesche said.

A number of major sponsors also attended Tuesday’s press conference, and welcomed the new adjustments and showed their support for the event.

LIME, represented by Veronique Williams, was joined by Janine Defreitas of Scotia Bank, as well as Esworth Roberts of Coreas Hazells, who endorsed the seventh edition of the event, which is this year called the LIME, Scotiabank, EVE Canfest.

Canfest would also be making contributions towards charities specified by the sponsors, as well as others identified by the public.(JJ)