CARIFESTA ’76 CARIFESTA & Edna-The Beginning CARIFESTA was conceived not only as a festival, but as a cultural, region-building project for the Caribbean. Emerging at a time when many Caribbean states had only recently gained independence, it sought to answer a profound question: Who are we as Caribbean people?
Through music, dance, theatre, visual art and literature, CARIFESTA became a space where the region could celebrate its shared history while embracing its diverse cultural influences. CARIFESTA was born in the post-independence era, when Caribbean leaders and intellectuals believed that political independence needed to be matched by cultural confidence. If the National Dance Theatre Company became one of Jamaica’s gifts to the Caribbean, then CARIFESTA became one of the Caribbean’s greatest gifts to Jamaica.
In 1976, it did more than bring regional artists to Kingston, it accelerated the creation of lasting cultural institutions, strengthened artistic education, developed technical expertise and reinforced the idea that the arts were central to national development rather than peripheral to it. Every generation remembers CARIFESTA for different reasons.
For more information, visit emc.edu.jm.