– Come for the party, stay for the fun!

THE Government of Guyana, through the National Sports Commission, is in full support of the Bartica Regatta and has pledged to provide whatever assistance is needed to pull off a successful event.

“Bartica is doing it!” Director of Sports Christopher Jones expressed when he met the organizing committee at its first press conference at the Pegasus Hotel last Friday.
The nine contestants of the renowned Bartica pageant, Tonesha Deweever, Shania khan, Adeola Sutherland, Joyann Wong, Sabrina Persaud, Tonia Harris, Soma Lindore, Amel Griffith and Jerusha Ferrell, were introduced.

The pageant, touted to be the oldest in Guyana’s history, is slated to be held on Saturday, April 20, and the winners will receive big prizes. The first place winner is to take home $500,000 along with a scholarship to the University of Guyana (UG); second place, $300,000 and a scholarship; third place, $100,000 and a scholarship; and fourth place, a scholarship.

The platforms of the contestants include school dropouts, women empowerment, sexually transmitted diseases in teenagers, youth empowerment, child abuse, battling human trafficking in the hinterland, and mental health.

The Sports Director observed that Bartica has been excelling in promoting tourism and hospitality and encouraged the organizing team from the Town Council to continue in their efforts. He said it is being hoped that other municipalities will follow suit in promoting their municipalities.

“In whatever way the National Sports Commission can lend support, rest assured we are prepared to do so because we recognize the value of what you’re promoting and the benefits that come from them,” Jones said.

Bartica Mayor Gifford Marshall said the Town Council will be promoting the regatta with much emphasis on what Guyana has to offer in terms of tourism. “The landscape, terrain and people are just a sight to behold. We take much pride and effort in promoting this year’s regatta,” he said at the press conference.

“A number of citizens have not experienced this beauty, especially in the hinterland. Today we are witnessing high powered boat racing; engines in excess of 300 horsepower. So we are very grateful for where regatta is today and we would have seen a transformation in terms of the planning and execution,” Marshall added.

Quite a youthful team has been put together to pull off the event that will run from April 14 to 22. This year’s calendar of events will also see the staging of a Gymkhana, and the Regatta Comedy Show, complemented by the much- anticipated dirt bike racing and the ‘Miss Bartica Regatta Pageant’. A bird whistling competition will be introduced this year.

“If you cannot come because of accommodation, then jump on a boat cruise and come have fun. You need to come and experience our love, our pride and our landscape and all that we have to offer. Come for the party, stay for the fun,” Marshall expressed.

Michael De Santos, another member of the organising committee, said this year’s regatta is slated to be the best that had been had over the years, as the sporting disciplines have been hyped the best so far.

Cianna Persaud, another member on the committee recalled that Bartica has executed over 45 years of exciting aqua sporting tourism in Guyana, a feat unknown to anyone else. “We own that. It’s Bartica’s own and we are taking it back by storm. The Easter weekend regatta is the place to be; there is nowhere else. Anything that you love, we have something for you. Any entertainment that you need, we have it for you. So Bartica regatta, don’t miss it.”

Persaud said this year is aimed at being the best in the traditional sporting events which would have included basketball, volleyball, football and cricket and new this time, the bird whistling competition. The police gymkhana is also included in this year’s event.

Source: Guyana Chronicle