The ARD Department of Social Recovery set out to document this historic event in April, in collaboration with the Ministry of Carriacou and Petit Martinique Affairs, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Performing Arts, T&R Coms and the Government Information Service, with contributions from the Carriacou Maroon Music Festival Committee and the Hillsborough Library and Resource Centre.

The documentary comprises a historical background to the Festival, elements of the Festival, including excerpts of performances, and the direction residents of Carriacou see as the future for the Festival. The film is brought together with interviews of key persons involved in the organisation of the Festival, elders from the Carriacou community and participants of the Maroon Festival.

The full-length documentary, along with the performances from the Maroon Festival, were screened at the ARD conference room in front of an audience comprised of personnel from Government ministries, ARD staff and representatives of local media houses.

“The intent of the documentary was to capture the origins of maroon and the Festival experience,” according to ARD Training Coordinator Dr. Lincoln douglas.

In welcoming the audience to the screening of the 45 minute documentary, ARD Chief Executive Officer Mr. Richardson Andrews said: “The Maroon Festival allows us to highlight the aspects of togetherness and sharing.”

Mr. Andrews noted that the role of the ARD extends beyond the physical reconstruction of Grenada.

“Part of our role is to help reconstruct people,” he said, adding that the process of sharing through the maroon is as much psychological as physical.

“The maroon is part of our ‘Africaness’,” Mr. Andrews said.

Members of the audience were invited to make comments on the film, which is scheduled for presentation in Carriacou later this month.

The final touches will be made to the documentary, after which it will be presented to the Carriacou Maroon Music Festival Committee to be used as an educational tool in schools and as a marketing tool in the promotion of this annual Festival.

“At the end of the day it must be a Caribbean thing,” according to Carriacou calypsonian James Stafford ‘Skylark’, one of the Festival organisers featured in the documentary.

The ARD continues to work with stakeholders in the development of Grenada and the preservation of the Nation’s cultural heritage.