Guyana turns 55 however, this year’s independence celebration looked vastly different from past years as a result of the worsening worldwide pandemic.    Kudos must be given to the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport for managing to maintain so many customary features to Guyana’s Independence celebration.  The Ministry delivered on the customary flag-raising ceremony featuring the highly anticipated Joint Services also Guyana’s youth were as usual on show with the feature cultural presentation and an incredible Love Guyana Independence Night concert.

The Flag Raising Ceremony featured a grand and spectacular feature cultural presentation. The presentation showcased the beauty of Guyana’s cultural diversity and the raw natural talent of our awe inspiriting youth. Everything from the carefully crafted costumes to the items selected and presented spoke to themes of nationalism patriotism and unification of the people and the beauty of Guyana’s rich and cultural diversity. It was however, the addition of the Ministry of Culture’s Talent search contestant that added a special flavour to the already rich spectacle. The contestants took a one-week hiatus from the competition to make their contributions to the Independence celebrations.  They brought fresh energy and diversified the talents being displayed during the presentation.  A true sight to behold as Guyanese ushered in their 55^th Independence.

The Independence celebration was completed with a Love Guyana Concert. The concert featured some of the biggest music acts in Guyana.  The lineup featured Tameka Marshall, Jumo Primo, Steven Ramphal, Bunty Singh, Kevin Singh, Vicaadi, and Sonia Singh, and many more. The local megastars brought their a-game entertaining the crowd with some of their most popular songs. It was one hit performance after the other and no shortage of glorious moments.  There were many stand-out moments including the tantalizing performance of local megastar Tameka Marshall, and an age-defying performance by Jumo Primo, Vacaadi and Sonia Singh, and others.

The lovely and talented Nikita debuted her brand-new hit ‘Right Here’, while dynamic Diana as usual brought the flame with another astonishing performance. The talented entertainer is known not only for her brilliance in acoustics but always producing highly creative performance likely accredited to her diverse training in the arts; the fans can never predict her performance but one can be guaranteed she will leave her heart on that stage.

Samuel Medas rose to the occasion and brought the curtains down with a spectacular performance of his 2021 Monarch winning ‘Stadium’ the fireworks accompanied performance was already a strike pure gold even before he was joined on stage by the night’s cohosts for some wholesome Guyanese style entertainment.

The night produced many unsung heroes. Including; the Shakti Strings, the Cohosts the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport for bringing it all together, and of course the fans.  The fans play an integral role in any such concert and though limited to some extent by the new online platform, being the crafty people that we are, the Guyanese audience took advantage of the new features offered by the unusual platforming.

The comments section of the live became a show onto itself; catching the attention of performers such as reigning Monarch Samuel Medas who stated there is no Comments section like a Guyanese comment section.  The comments whether positive, negative shady or just creative and fun; definitely adding to the evening’s aesthetics.

You can view the Independence Love Concert here and the flag-raising ceremony here

Happy independence to all Guyana from your friends here at Caribbean Entertainment hub and do remember to Stay tuned for more on Guyana’s art journey.

Hashtags #TamekaMarshall, #JumoPrimo, #StevenRamphal, #BuntySingh, #KevinSingh, #Vicaadi, #SoniaSingh, #SamuelMedas #Nikita