The Amity Steelband Festival made a triumphant return after a five-year hiatus, offering a platform for Guyanese students to demonstrate their musical prowess on the steelpan.
Held at the Seawall Esplanade, the festival featured performances from seven schools across the country, highlighting the vibrant cultural heritage and musical skills nurtured in local educational institutions.
Nicholas Fraser, Administrator of the Education Ministry’s Unit of Allied Arts, emphasized the festival’s significance beyond music, noting its role in fostering teamwork and valuable life skills among students.
He expressed the Ministry’s commitment to expanding music programs in 18 schools nationwide, despite facing challenges such as the need for more instructors and trained tuners to support these initiatives.
The participating schools included West Demerara Secondary, St. Roses High, Dolphin Secondary, Buxton Steel Orchestra, President’s College, Berbice High, and the Bishops’ High School.
Fraser highlighted the festival’s non-competitive nature, focusing instead on celebrating the students’ talents and promoting cultural enrichment.
The Unit of Allied Arts also announced plans to introduce a steelband program at the Cyril Potter College of Education, in collaboration with UNESCO through Kross Kolor Records, aiming to further integrate cultural education into the national curriculum.
The Amity Steelband Festival, which previously ran for over a decade before its hiatus in 2019, stands as a testament to Guyana’s rich musical traditions and the ongoing efforts to empower young musicians across the country.