When the annual Primary Schools Performing Arts Festival (PRISPAF) was launched on Friday February, 6,2024, at the Questelles Government School, Cultural Officer, Maxine Browne gave a personal pep to the decades old festival.

During her remarks at the media briefing of the Ju-C sponsored festival, Browne revealed that PRISPAF was instrumental in shaping her into the person she is today, and steering her career direction.

FROM LEFT: Dr Resa Noel-McBarnet (PS in the Minstry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture), Kelvin Franklyn (ECGC’s Regional Category Manager for beverages) and Jasmin Millington, ECGC Marketing rep

“It has been 22 years since PRISPAF took me from Qualified Teacher to Dance Development Officer to Cultural Officer; your gifts can take you places,” she told those in attendance.

Browne was emotional as she explained that “it was PRISPAF where my talents were identified in 2002 at the Questelles Government School, that school that has moulded me and took me to culture.”

She encouraged students to invest in their gifts as it has the ability to take them to higher heights.

“We have to ensure that our students, our children, our youth not only know how to use their heads, hands and feet to pursue the academics, but to use their hands, hearts, head and feet to maximise their time, their different talents to enable their survival, and more specifically to function in the world where the arts continue to make a difference.”

There was an array of performances at the launch by students who participated in last year’s PRISPAF.

This year, preliminaries are being held from February 6 to 29, and the Grand Days(finals) will take place on March 7-8 at the Methodist Church Hall, Kingstown.

Browne told SEARCHLIGHT that they are expecting more than 50 schools to take part in this year’s PRISPAF preliminaries, an increase from 30 last year.

PRISPAF is put on by the Ministries of Culture and Education, with the financial support of Ju-C and ECGC’s Easy Bake who have increased the sponsorship this year to EC$15,000 which is EC$5000 more than last year.

Remarks were given by officials of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture; East Caribbean Group of Companies(ECGC); and the principal of the Questelles Government School who all encouraged the students to take part in the festival and shared their desire for its longevity.