Attorney General – Patrice Nisbett
Charlestown, Nevis
June 09, 2011
St. James Parish resident and Attorney General, the Honourable Patrice Nisbett, will, later this evening, host a cocktail reception and opening ceremony for the fifth celebration of his parish’s community festival, Winfest.
The ceremony would be held at the Mount Nevis Hotel from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and is expected to attract residents of the St. James Parish as well as patrons of the annual festival.
In an update interview and cheque presentation, yesterday [June 8], with Chairman of the St. James Festival Committee, Mr. Pearlievan Wilkin, an appeal was made to the general public to attend the opening ceremony and other Winfest activities.
“In the past, we have tried the opening ceremony on its own. We have tried it with the Calypso Show [and] at one point, we tried it with the Food Fair but for some reason, people tend to stay away from the opening ceremony,” Mr. Wilkin said.
With an expected 100 guests at tonight’s cocktail reception, “it should be more receptive than it had been in the past,” he added.
Other activities to mark the June 9 to 13 celebration of Winfest 2011 include a Calypso Show, Bingo, Fishing Tournament, Food Fair, Dance, Drag Race Meet, Band Rumble, J’ouvert and Beach Family Affair.
A major highlight of the June 13 j’ouvert morning jam, according to Mr. Wilkin, would be the geothermal troupe which forms part of Nevis’ “cleaner, cheaper, better” geothermal awareness campaign.
In addition to encouraging the general public to attend the 2011 Winfest activities, Chairman Wilkin had high praise for the festival’s platinum sponsor, Delta Petroleum.
Delta Petroleum, he said, “features very prominently on j’ouvert morning” with its provision of t-shirts, a banner and drinks.
“Delta is going to make a very major contribution. Delta is with us all the way,” he said.
Island Manager of Delta Petroleum, Ms. Sharon Hobson, in presenting the sponsorship cheque to Chairman Wilkin, said she was pleased that her company was the platinum sponsor for the third consecutive year.
“We deem it an honour and pleasure to be in tandem with this annual festival,” she said, adding that Delta Petroleum “had watched Winfest grow through the years” and was proud that it had presented her company the opportunity to live up to its “credo of community involvement.”
The update and cheque handing over ceremony was held in Delta Petroleum’s conference room where Manager Hobson lauded the organising committee for hosting a festival that “facilitates an exchange of culture and carries the cultural message of past generation to the present and future.”
Winfest 2011 will be celebrated under the theme “keep de kulcha alive Winfest turns five” and in honour of music teacher Mr. Keithley Brandy.