 So you don't care what you're getting here? You don't care. Yes, testing one, two, three. Testing one, two, three. Yesterday I'm taking a picture. That's why he got so serious. It's weird. She's going somewhere, isn't she? Okay, we're about to start. Yeah. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. And thank you so much for being here with us today. And good morning to you viewers on the National Television Network, as well as the Government of Saint Lucia, pages Facebook and Instagram as well. And YouTube. Welcome to the Media Launch for Carnival 2024. I'm Homer DeMarc and I will be your host for this brief ceremony. For 2023, for Carnival Saint Lucia 2023, we saw the focus on four key pillars of development, including national pride, safety, community engagement, as well as youth development. We also saw a continued and increased focus on Saint Lucia's national events. In 2024, we are expecting lots of great things and I do have a lovely panel of people here with us today to give you insight into what you can expect for Carnival 2024. So to begin and to just lead the discussion, I would like to say good morning to Honorable Dr. Ernest Hiller, who is the Minister for Tourism, investment, creative industries, culture and investment to give us a little bit of insight to provide a few brief remarks on Carnival enhancement policies for 2024 as well as strategies. Dr. Hiller, good morning to you and happy World Tourism these years. Thank you very much. I think you will know, our viewers certainly will know that there's a lot of blue. Not that we feel in blue, but certainly in recognition of tourism. The entire week we are celebrating tourism and the theme then green investments suggesting the need for sustainability as we develop the tourism industry. And I think when you mention the four pillars, it all speaks of sustainability in a sense, the focus on youth development, for example, spoke to that desire first to ensure that the art form grows and is sustainable and therefore the developmental aspect is important. As we look towards 2024, we certainly have to ensure that that continued growth in our capacity for the art form to continue to grow. So this year we brought back in the post-COVID era, we brought back the Junior Carnival, we brought back the Junior Calypso. And I know for next year, although it's not part of the official Carnival period, but the CDF is already working to bring back Junior Panorama in the earlier part of the year. So I think we will continue to look forward to how we can grow the Junior Calypso to have more schools participating and a broader coverage of it. And Junior Carnival, some of the Carnival bands this year have been clamoring for greater support for Junior Carnival and to see how we can make it grow. I think the big challenge for us in 2024 will be how do we get the right balance between development and the given support to elements of Carnival that actually bring the returns that can make us grow the Carnival. Because if you look at it, we have to look at sustainability in terms of how it grows. But we must also look at sustainability from a point of view of economic success. Carnival costs money for the bands, the private events, as well as the art form itself. And we have to be able to give support to the elements that make it a financial success. Carnival is the largest single economic activity in the country. There's no doubt about it. In the first ten days of July this year, we had 18,000 arrivals. And if you just assume half of that came for Carnival, it means about 9,000 people came in. And the first ten days just for Carnival, which is a tremendous statement of the importance of Carnival in terms of attracting people to come to the country. And you have to reward that. So if there are elements that are bringing in the economic returns, you have to support it and ensure it is sustained. And of course at the same time, the cultural importance of Carnival must also be sustained. But that takes money, that does not bring in money. So we need to find the right balance between making sure the art form can continue to survive and therefore feeding the elements that produces it. But at the same time providing support for the elements that bring in the resources that can make the Carnival a success. So the challenge for the committee and the different agencies for next year is to see how we can revise, rethink, and reorient to ensure sustainability, both in terms of the art form but also in terms of the economic success of Carnival. We must make it an even bigger economic good than it is right now. Thank you so much for that insight, Dr. Hillay. Also, when we look at Carnival 2024 and usually for the St. Lucia Carnival product, there are always key focus areas in terms of the festival and the enhancement of the festival as well. At this point, I would like to invite the chair of the Carnival Planning and Management Committee, Mr. Myra Gibson to give us insight on the key focus areas for Carnival 2024. Good morning. Our Carnival has shown continuous growth, not only enhancing the experience for our locals but also positioning St. Lucia as a must-visit destination for Carnival enthusiasts. It is heartwarming to see the diversity and influx of visitors who come to be a part of this rich cultural activity. Looking ahead, the outlook for Carnival 2024 is incredibly positive. With the momentum we have gained, next year promises to be even bigger, brighter and even more breathtaking. An integral part of the success lies in the enthusiastic participation of our youth. So for 2024, we are going to be focusing a lot more on having our youth more involved in the Carnival product. It is imperative to highlight that their role as the torchbearers of our rich tradition is extremely important. Their inclusion ensures that our Carnival roots remain deep and the culture stays vibrant for generations to come. By actively involving and investing in our young talents, we not only ensure sustainability but we ensure that our cherished culture lives on for years to come. So for 2024, as Minister just said, we will be working with the Cultural Development Foundation to ensure we have more activities for youth participation in Carnival to get them to appreciate and also protect our culture. Thanks. Thank you so much for that, Madam Chair. One of the things that Dr. Hillier mentioned and we're also hearing it with Madam Chair's remarks is the importance of balance. There is when it comes to the stakeholders of Carnival and ensuring that we're meeting various mandates with the festival that is considerably one of Singlish's largest festivals. One important aspect is the cultural aspect and I would like to hand over to the Executive Director of the Cultural Development Foundation, Ramona Henry-Winn, who is going to highlight first how we can enforce the cultural enrichment through Carnival, cultivating and influencing Carnival-related dimensions as well for Carnival 2024. Good morning, everyone. Good morning, everyone out there viewing. I was very happy to have Minister speak of the balance between economics and the cultural component of Carnival, which are equally important. And for us, we understand that there is the economic side, that some of the bands on some persons aspire to. But however, there's the cultural component and for the CDF, the only way you can foster the cultural component is through the developmental work that we would do. And you heard Minister spoke about the junior panorama and these are just some of the things that we will do during the upcoming Carnival season, leading to the Carnival season, the developmental work because the only way you can have that sort of impact, because you really can't change the tide, you can't turn the hands of time, but what you can do is to work in the areas that are most impactful where you are going to see that change. And for us, it is tapping into the use of the nation. You have the junior calypsonians, you have junior carnival, you have junior band leaders, these are the persons we feel that we can work with to ensure that our cultural heritage remains strong. It remains an integral part of St. Lucia Carnival. You sometimes hear people say that culture is lost, it's not lost, culture is evolving. It is a phenomenon, it is evolving. And because of that, we have to do the necessary developmental work to ensure that the culture remains high on the agenda and that it flourishes throughout Carnival and Carnival is just not Monday and Tuesday parade. There are lots of components to Carnival. You have the quinchot, you have junior carnival, you have calypso. You have a lot of activities during the carnival where we feel that we can work with those individuals to ensure that the cultural component is highlighted and you want to ensure that our cultural heritage is preserved and protected for years to come. Because for us, we want to see everybody being a stakeholder of Carnival, whether you're part of the audience, whether you're somebody who participate in the components of Carnival. We want to ensure that everybody feels that Carnival belongs to them and they have us taking it as well. So we will work very closely with the CPMC to ensure that we drive home that cultural message, that message that St. Lucian's culture is alive and well. And I'm sure this year you will see all of the cultural components of Carnival really coming up to the top and that St. Lucian's can feel proud of the Carnival product that we know it to be. Thank you. Thank you so much for that, Ms. Winan. I would have to agree with you when it comes to the cultural aspect. I think last year we saw a number of areas where not only we saw youth involvement, but we saw our culture shining in really great ways. For example, Panorama where we had the youth participating in the opening of Panorama in 2023 and one of my favorite events for Carnival. And while I know that there are people in the audience who watch me on the side because I am a product of National Queen Show. But King and Queen of the Bands, when I saw those costumes come out on the stage I was like, I want to do that. I want to be in our past year next year for King and Queen of the Bands. That is what it did for me. But the artistry that goes into that really is a big part of our culture and I agree with you. And I'm happy to know that that is going to be advanced in 2024 as well. You know, when we talk about St. Lucian Carnival, yes, we talk about Carnival being ours. It is for us St. Lucian's. There is something for every single St. Lucian in St. Lucian Carnival. But one of the things that also happens is that we do get a boost of visitors coming to our island and like Dr. Heeler mentioned, it is necessary for the economic aspect of the St. Lucian Carnival product. So at this point, I would like to invite to share a few brief remarks with us. CEO of the St. Lucian Tourism Authority, that Ms. Loreen Charles St. Jules to share with us the winning approaches to boost the 2024 festival in the market piece. Thank you. Good morning to you. Thank you. Good morning. You're welcome. And good morning to my fellow panelists this morning. Honourable Minister, it's quite delight that I've noticed the word balance come through. And one of the issues that we have with promoting St. Lucian Carnival is providing the true balance and the true winning formula for our prospective guests. As you know, the word connectivity is an issue that we've had faced for the last two years, not just post-COVID, but as we begin to recover as a tourism economy. Connectivity in terms of how do we get the clients who we feel can come to St. Lucian Carnival, how do we get them to come to St. Lucian Carnival? We've had issues in every market. We have issues in the UK market. We have it in the Caribbean market, which is our number one market for Carnival. We have issues in the US market as well. So how do we attend to this? So we have to attend to connectivity. The other issue that we have, and I would like to draw on Ministers Woolen from last year, when we introduced Vaxmas and St. Lucia back then in the international market, was the only Caribbean destination who went forward to say that we're going to return to the market in Carnival. We used that formula. We used the formula last year of pushing events. So we had not just a niche marketing approach for arrivals to St. Lucia, but we also had the festival approach, use our festivals, our USP to allow visitors to come to St. Lucia. We are about to begin our official launch in the international market next week. We did this last year, and we're going to talk about it a little bit later. But as we are about to approach this year, we've just been told that there are four other islands who have copied the exact formula that we did last year in Miami. So Ministers led the team. We had a global launch. So no longer is that special event that we didn't see in Lucia unique anymore. Why? Because people realized the waiting formula of launching Carnival, the global Carnival launch. Because what we thought it was the end to the official Caribbean Carnival, but it was the beginning also to Miami Carnival and it starts the circle again. So we thought we would be right in between the two to launch our Carnival. And of course, the other islands are doing it next week as we speak. So what does that mean? We have to up our game as well. So this year, we're going to start globally to launch our Carnival, bearing in mind the connectivity issues that we have, bearing in mind the accommodations that we have, because we know also through our data that there are some areas where our Carnival goers either want to be placed in the northern side of the island, or we're also looking for more short-term experiences, the Airbnb's, the stay-at-home. So we have put all this together and collectively we now want to present a product of Carnival, of the destination product that will appeal to all those markets. So having said this, collectively, the team has come in with a formula where we're going to go really, really strong this year. We're going to push our USP, come to St. Lucia for this cultural carnival, come to St. Lucia for this destination, this award-winning destination, for nature, for adventure, for dive, for wellness, for romance. And while you're coming there, the balance is you have this wonderful cultural carnival that we've spoken of through the CPMC and also through CDF, and we're going to say to our visitors, St. Lucia will be that unique place that you must be. We hope more of being nowhere else next year but to be in St. Lucia for Carnival. Thank you so much for that, Ms. Sanjuza. I think you can take comfort in the fact that, you know, your strategies are being copied. It means that you're doing something right. You know, when it comes to St. Lucia Carnival, one of the things that definitely plays an integral role is the logistics and ensuring that everything is well-managed, everything runs smoothly. And at this point I would like to invite to share some with Marine Sidani, who is the CEO of Events Company of St. Lucia, to give us a bit of insight into managing logistics for Carnival 2024. Sure. Good morning and good morning to all panellists. Dr. Hillay, good morning. Events Company of St. Lucia, ECSL, is extremely delighted to be part of the executing agencies for Carnival. Our specific responsibility deals with logistics, production of the shows and overall execution. We've seen the growth of Carnival and we've heard Tamara, Honorable Minister, speak about it. And from a logistics perspective, we need to ensure that the growth from a logistics side is proportional to the growth that's happening on the ground so that patrons can have a safe and enjoyable Carnival. We've heard about the balance that needs to happen. And yes, we're looking at the financial, we're looking at the cultural. We can ensure that sustainability is in the mix so that persons want to come back to Carnival. And we're offering more. We love the growth, but we have to cater for it. We've seen the return of a number of events, which means that there are more logistics to put in place. We have the Junior Carnival that came back, Juve came back into commercial calypso competition, into school and even the community carnivals. So there's lots to think about. I mean, specifically from a logistics perspective and if we need to be honest, I think the two topical areas that we really have to sit and we sit with different stakeholders under the guidance of the Carnival Planning and Management Committee, of course. And I'm happy to see some of the stakeholders here. Mr. Trevor King, Barry George, Teddy, I mean, we can go on and on. So it shows interest on the ground. So we have to come together and start to talk about what are the logistics that we need to plan to improve Carnival for 2024 and two areas that we really want to look at, I think, would be the venues for the various shows and that scintillating topic of the parade route needs to be discussed. There has to be a collective discussion. All the stakeholders coming together. For the venues, we saw Queen Show in particular to go on a new venue, the Pavilion. I guess we will have discussions, Trevor, about whether or not there were more benefits than disadvantages in using that venue. I have my personal view, but I am biased. We use the National Cultural Center for the semifinals, the Groovy and Power Soka semifinals for calypso semifinals and again, discussions on whether or not we're capitalizing on that venue as much as we should. The Sabre, that has become Carnival Village. The Finals, all of the Finals took place there, Panorama King and Queen of the Bands, Groovy and Power Soka, Calypso Finals. Fantastic venue, it's a central. The acoustics work well. It has a natural backstage with amenities. But as Minister pointed out to me a few days ago, it's lacking seating. So again, let's sit down and discuss what do we do to make sure that the patrons, to make sure that the participants of Carnival 2024 continue to enjoy it and that the art form grows and that the balance between the culture and the financial aspect are properly maintained. The parade route, I won't even go into that. Lots of discussions there. It's scenic, it's lovely, but there is congestion when bands are leaving and bands are coming into the city. That has to be discussed. ECSL is ready. We're ready for 2024. We enjoy the being part of the growth and the Carnival for 2023. We want to just pledge our support here that the logistics will be put in place after discussion and under the guidance of CPMC, discussion with the many stakeholders to ensure that Carnival at the risk of song meme cliché becomes bigger, better and more colorful. Thank you. Thank you so much for that, Mr. Doni. If you're just joining us, we have a media launch for Carnival 2024, St. Lucia Carnival of 2024. And just before we head over to the unveiling of the calendar of events, let's take a look back at Carnival 2023 through some highlights. The governments of St. Lucia over the past few years have been ensuring that there is increased focus on our national events for St. Lucia Carnival. We saw that last year in a great way and this year we expect even more when it comes to our national events. Just a fun fact, in 2024 we will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the National Carnival Queen show. So that is definitely something to look forward to. We've seen the growth and the development of that show over the years in a great way as well as a number of national events. So at this point I would like to draw your attention as we unveil the calendar of national events for St. Lucia Carnival 2024. Okay, on the calendar we can see the activities such as National Carnival Queen show intercommercial Groovy and Power Monarch Calypso Finals Canorama Junior Carnival and Queen and King of the Bands and of course the Parade of the Bands and Juve all these dates for 2024 and now live on your screens. And set in stone. Make sure you know those dates. Thank you so much for that Madam Chair. As we look to 2024 as we are getting very excited about the 2024 Carnival season I would like to remind you that there is something for everybody when it comes to St. Lucia's Carnival product. So as we view this video for 2024 try to find your piece for St. Lucia Carnival 2024. And there we have it with that we come to the close of the media launch for St. Lucia Carnival 2024 I would like to thank you so much for joining us and of course look out for updates, future updates on St. Lucia Carnival you can do so by following the government as well as Carnival St. Lucia on all social media platforms I'd like to thank you so much for joining us and again I'd like to bid you a happy Road to Rosembe.