Historic turnout as Berbice celebrates Mashramani
― the largest participation in years
― Guyanese culture prevails
DPI, Guyana, Monday, March 4, 2019
Droves of Guyanese, on Sunday, lined the Main Street, New Amsterdam, East Berbice/Corentyne (Region 6) corridor to celebrate Guyana’s 49th Republic Anniversary with its annual costume and float parade.
Spectators and revellers hailing from areas throughout the East Berbice/Corentyne Region as well as Georgetown were treated to what was heralded the biggest turnout in Berbice Mash history.
Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry, who has her origins in the region, was in attendance at the parade which she deemed a success.
“What I saw was pretty good and encouraging, a lot of hype, a celebratory mood and people were very warm. I am really enjoying myself in the streets, this is my hometown, and so I’m always very comfortable in Berbice, particularly New Amsterdam. So, I’m just enjoying the day.”
The Education Minister was one of the band leaders for the APNU+AFC Band, which had a massive presence and the largest in the parade.
“Mashramani is about celebration, so I’d encourage all to just have a blast and celebrate,” she added.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge said he was impressed with the floats and the triumphant celebration.
“I came to Mash so that I could have fun with the people of Berbice. This is a special occasion, once a year and I didn’t want to miss it. I am enjoying it very much. I saw a number of floats… A lot of people along the way were saying it was a far better turnout than last year and it seems to me that people were enjoying themselves quite a lot, so I’m in the midst of things.”
As the Department of Social Cohesion boasted the largest contingency and an assortment of uniquely designed costumes, Director of Sport, Christopher Jones explained that the celebration is an integral part of Guyanese culture and that he is pleased with the turnout.
“As you can see, the revellers are hyped. The people came out in their numbers. They’re excited about Mash 2019, and this is essentially what the Department of Social Cohesion wants to depict; unity in our country and, of course, we have Vanilla’s (Melissa Roberts) song ‘One Voice’, and that’s essentially that’s what our revellers are dancing to, and we even had some spectators who were participating in the excitement. It is a grand celebration after hard work, but essentially, Mashramani brings us together as a country, as one people, one nation, one destiny and of course that’s what we’re depicting here today,” he said.
Officer Royden Sealey, one of the leaders of the Guyana Police Force’s, ‘B’ Division Youth Group Band told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that his float was exemplifying unity.
“We are just out here enjoying ourselves. The float is just a remake of last year just displaying the unity amongst police and what the police are doing with the communities. We have close to four hundred children on the road,” he explained.
This year’ Mashramani theme was ‘Celebrate Mash 49 with victory in mind’.
Nateshia Isaacs.
Images: Keno George.