Major festival coming this month to Haiti

By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

CARIFESTA, the largest cultural and artistic event in the Caribbean, is launching next week and will run from August 21-30.

This is the 12th edition of the festival, which began in 1972, and has since become a significant multicultural event that attracts visitors from around the world.

CARIFESTA activities will be held in five cities across the island – Port-au-Prince, Jacmel, Cap-Haitian, Gonaives, and Cayes – and will feature the disciplines of dance, cuisine, fashion, cinema, visual arts, literature, music, theater, arts and crafts.

A variety of the artistic categories and youth programming will be held at the Grand Market, a giant space for exhibition that will be held in Champs de Mars in Port-au-Prince throughout the entirety of the event.

In addition to celebrating Caribbean art and heritage, CARIFESTA aims to educate residents and visitors about each country’s culture, as well as to foster participation and inspire organization of such events within the region.

It was last held in Suriname in 2013.