In­for­ma­tion on the re­port­ed in­ten­tion to dis­solve the Na­tion­al Car­ni­val Com­mis­sion (NCC) and to cre­ate what is be­ing re­ferred as a “Na­tion­al Fes­ti­vals Com­mit­tee,” which will take re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for re­or­gan­is­ing the Car­ni­val and oth­er na­tion­al fes­ti­vals, is at­tract­ing se­ri­ous con­cern.

While a reval­u­a­tion is need­ed, it cer­tain­ly can­not be that the coun­try wakes up one morn­ing and finds the NCC gone and a new com­mit­tee in place.

Cul­tur­al tra­di­tions are al­ways evolv­ing. How­ev­er, to achieve the ob­jec­tive of pro­vid­ing the en­vi­ron­ment in which they will live and grow, there must be a con­cep­tu­al and ad­min­is­tra­tive frame in­to which the fes­ti­vals are to be placed. Such a re­or­gan­i­sa­tion there­fore has to arise from with­in the ex­is­tence of the cul­tur­al mi­lieu. Most im­por­tant­ly, “we the peo­ple,” from whose imag­i­na­tion and cul­tur­al her­itages the fes­ti­vals were giv­en life, must be crit­i­cal­ly in­volved in the up­dat­ing and trans­form­ing of the fes­ti­vals.

Re­con­sid­ered, the fes­ti­vals must con­tribute to a sense of har­mo­ny amongst us in a mul­ti­cul­tur­al na­tion, one that is di­verse but co­he­sive and pro­duc­tive, know­ing the hu­man­i­ty and val­ue of all those who ar­rived and with their cul­tur­al mem­o­ry in­tact.

Of great sig­nif­i­cance too, is the need to trans­form and mod­ernise the or­gan­i­sa­tion of the fes­ti­vals so that they are not con­ceived to be a worth­less drain on the Trea­sury. The stat­ed ob­jec­tive must be that the fes­ti­vals, in ad­di­tion to be­ing of cul­tur­al and spir­i­tu­al val­ue, must si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly meet the cost of ad­min­is­tra­tion and be an in­vest­ment in the won­der­ful and var­ied cul­tur­al tra­di­tions of the so­ci­ety.

For decades now, a re­gen­er­a­tion of Car­ni­val has been ad­vo­cat­ed for. The same is true of Di­vali, Ram­leela, Eid and the San­ta Rosa First Peo­ples Fes­ti­val. One ma­jor con­tention ar­tic­u­lat­ed by rep­re­sen­ta­tives of all the fes­ti­vals has been the short­age and un­cer­tain­ty of fund­ing, as well as when it will be paid by the Gov­ern­ment.

In all of the in­stances, one ma­jor out­stand­ing con­tention has been with what is said to be the need for greater and more time­ly fund­ing of the fes­ti­vals from the pub­lic purse, and the cut­ting out of in­ef­fi­cien­cies and cor­rupt prac­tices which are re­port­ed to be wedged in­to the ad­min­is­tra­tion.

The re­al­i­ty is that man­ag­ing fes­ti­vals with fair­ness, in a mul­ti-cul­tur­al and mul­ti-eth­nic so­ci­ety with tra­di­tions hand­ed down from the orig­i­nal civil­i­sa­tions of the two main eth­nic­i­ties and that of the First Peo­ples, re­quires un­der­stand­ing and hu­mil­i­ty to build a “true, true” mul­ti­cul­tur­al na­tion.

One of the first re­quire­ments is that those who are ad­vo­cat­ing fair­ness in the stag­ing of the fes­ti­vals must de­fine what that means and how it is to be ap­plied to ad­min­is­tra­tion. Such per­spec­tives and un­der­stand­ing of cul­ture and its cen­tral­i­ty to the na­tion and peo­ple de­vel­op­ment are crit­i­cal.

In­volve­ment of the whole na­tion in a con­sul­ta­tive process is equal­ly vi­tal.

It can­not be that a cab­i­net be­hind closed doors serves up a for­mu­la which has to be fol­lowed; such will have lit­tle cred­i­bil­i­ty and work­a­bil­i­ty.

No sin­gle com­mit­tee, there­fore, will have the un­der­stand­ing and ca­pac­i­ty to de­vel­op the ra­tio­nale and mod­el for a new path for­ward with­out na­tion­al in­volve­ment.