Guyanese living abroad often arrange their
yearly visits to coincide with the weeklong carnival, which
incorporates steel band competitions and sporting events.
Masquerade bands appear in the streets and in competitions
at National Park, performing dance routines that are a vivid
reminder of Guyana's African heritage. Traditional masquerade
characters include the bouncer like Mad Bull, Mother Sally
(a parody of a plantation lady); flouncers, who beg for money
using intricate dance moves; and stick-fighters. Calypsos
laced with barbed social commentary are an integral part of
'Mash' celebrations, which culminate in the coronation of
the king or queen for the year.
The Hindu community celebrates the joyous
spring festival Phagwah in March/April (the exact date depends
on the lunar cycle). Phagwah commemorates the triumph of good
over evil and begins with the burning of the symbolic Holika.
Hindus traditionally wear white on Phagwah day and, in one
of the festival's highlights, celebrants spray each other
with abeer, a red dye symbolizing the blood of the tyrannical
King Kiranya, who in Hindu lore was ordered to death by his
son Prince Prahalad. Hindus and non-Hindus alike shower powder,
perfume and water on family, friends and neighbors.
Easter
is celebrated in the traditional way by Guyanese Christians,
but it also coincides with the arrival of the kite season.
Kite enthusiasts set about building their creations a few
days before Easter, in preparation for Easter Monday's grand
fly-off at Georgetown's Seawall. The prime kite-flying arena
with its strong winds and absence of all shapes and colors
is quite a thing to behold.
Easter is also the time of the Rupununi Rodeo,
the annual display of traditional skills by the Amerindian
vaqueros of Guyana's southwestern savannah. Held in Lethem,
the district capital, the rodeo features bronco and wild horse
riding and roping. It is now marketed as a major tourist event
in the Rupununi.
An African Festival in National Park marks
Emancipation Day on Aug. 1, preceded by a libation ceremony
in Parliament on the eve of the celebrations.
Divali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, is observed
toward the end of the year with the lighting of deyas at family
homes and a lighted vehicle parade featuring characters from
the Ramayana and other holy scriptures.
Muslim
festivals such as Eid-ul-Fitr, the culmination of the month
of Ramadan; Eid-ul-Azah, the festival of sacrifices; and Youman
Nabi, the birthday of the Holy Prophet Mohammed, are moveable
feasts, their dates set by the lunar calendar, and are celebrated
with due solemnity.
Amerindian festivals such as St. John and
the Hummingbird Festival, marking the cassava harvest, are
celebrated in some indigenous communities. In September, which
is designated Amerindian Month, Guyana's indigenous communities
welcome visitors for exhibitions and cultural performances.
The beauty and politics of Guyana is captured
in its music
"There's a land just off the Atlantic, Land
of jungles, waterfalls and sweet scenery. Where poor people
farm the lands and hunt the waters and all live in peace and
harmony. This is Guyana, beautiful Guyana,"goes the first
stanza of Hilton Hemerding's song, "Beautiful Guyana."
As
in painting and literature, the dramatic physical landscape
of Guyana has inspired plenty of music about the land itself.
There are songs with patriotic themes, like "Way Down Demerara"
and "My Guyana Eldorado." There is a considerable body of
folk music, much of it associated with ceremonies like the
queh-queh, an African pre-nuptial ritual, or centered on the
masquerade. At Mashramani, fife bands play traditional music
in the streets.
Over the years, Guyanese musicians have made
their contribution as well in the area of popular music. From
the 1960s, King Fighter held his own on the Caribbean calypso
stage with songs such as "B.G Plantain." The Tradewinds were
a popular calypso band of the 1950s and 1960s along the lines
of Barbados's Merrymen. Other figures include Eddie Hooper,
Johnny Braff, Lionel Abel, Ivor Lynch, Rita Forrester, Kenny
Lawrence and Mac and Katie Kissoon.
In the 1970s, Mark Holder and Eddy Grant came
to prominence in England. Grant achieved particular success
with songs such as Irie Harry and Electric Avenue. Today Eddy
Grant is a successful Barbados-based producer and one of the
key players in the Caribbean music arena; his re-issues of
vintage calypso on his ICE label have been crucial in the
worldwide promotion of Caribbean music.
Also
largely popular in Guyana is chutney, party music derived
from traditional Indian folk songs and laced with calypso
and soca. Local chutney singer Terry Gajraj is one of its
principal practitioners, performing in Trinidad, Surinam,
North America and England.
A potpourri of cuisine
India, Africa, the Amerindian, China and Portugal,
England and North America - they have all contributed to Guyana's
distinctive national cuisine.
From the indigenous population comes the country's
national dish: pepperpot, a thick meat stew cooked in casareep,
the dark, treacly juice of the bitter cassava, often eaten
with another Amerindian staple, cassava bread (Casareep is
a potent preservative -- a pot of pepperpot will remain on
the stove top indefinitely, becoming richer with age. Buy
a bottle from one of the vendors at Stabroek Market and experiment
at home).
Another Guyanese standard is mettagee, root
vegetables cooked in coconut milk. A large community of descendants
from India has popularized curries and the ubiquitous roti,
the ultimate Caribbean fast food. Chinese food is readily
available, and many Georgetown restaurants include Chinese
dishes on their menus. Garlic pork is a Christmas favorite
introduced by the Portuguese.
An
import ban during the 1980s prompted experimentation with
local ingredients, the legacy of which remains today. Plantain
flour is used in locally produced cereals. In cakes and desserts,
papaya and dried carambola (five-fingers) substitute successfully
for imported raisins and cherries.
Georgetown has an array of restaurants serving
both Guyanese and international food. Seafood (fish, prawns,
crab) is fresh and plentiful, and Guyana has possibly the
widest array of tropical fruits and vegetables in the Caribbean,
so meals can often be unusual and exciting. Some Georgetown
restaurants even serve wild meat such as labba (a small rodent)
and manatee (sea cow).
The soul-stirring land has plenty of attractions
and you can be pretty sure that its food will be one of your
best memories.
Guyana has made its mark in many areas
of sport
As in the rest of the Commonwealth, Caribbean
cricket is a national passion. Guyana has contributed more
than its fair share of fine players in the West Indies side,
including three captains, one of whom, Clive Lloyd, holds
the record as the most successful captain in cricket history.
Other notable Guyanese cricketers include Rohan Kanhai, Lance
Gibbs, Roy Fredericks, Alvin Kallicharan, Basil Butcher, Joe
Solomon and Colin Croft. More recently, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine
Chanderpaul and the young Reon King have lent their skills
to the West Indies effort.
While
players come from all parts of the country the game has been
especially popular in Berbice, which turns out cricketers
the way Brazil turns out footballers, and wins most of the
national titles.
Georgetown's Bourda cricket ground, once one
of the Caribbean's finest, is a major test-match venue. It
is noted for its wooden stands and the elegant samaan trees
on its periphery, although these days the ground is plagued
by drainage and surfacing problems and does not attract as
many international matches. Wind ball or softball cricket
is widely played in Guyana and tournaments are well sponsored.
Horse racing was popular in the 1960s, with
a lively scene centered on Georgetown's Durban Park racetrack.
The industry was given a new lease on life in the 1980s by
a group of racing enthusiasts who formed a new Horse Racing
Authority. Now several racetracks are in Berbice, where local
meets are staged, and a colorful racing scene has developed
once more.
Car racing is another long-standing passion.
The Linden highway facility was revived in the 1980s, and
the sport has regained its former vibrancy. Guyana's Dakota
circuit is a major stop on the international racing circuit,
and the big meet in November attracts top drivers from the
Caribbean and North America. Several smaller meets are during
the year as well.
Boxing
is popular in Guyana. It came into its own in the 1980s and
1960s, and Guyana was the first Caribbean territory to contest
the Commonwealth title. For golfers, there is an attractive
nine-hole course and golf club at Lusignan, seven miles from
Georgetown.
Road racing attracts plenty of interest. The
Go-Guyana Run Marathon take place in March on the east coast
road from Mahaica to Georgetown, and road races are held on
the white sand roads in some Amerindian communities.
Football (American soccer) and rugby are widely
played, though they suffer from the lack of an international-class
football ground. Guyana still competes in the CONCACAF (Caribbean
and Central American) league, however, and reached the third
round in the World Cup qualifier in 1976.
River swimming is another national pastime
and one with limitless scope, given the vastness of Guyana's
rivers. The Demerara and Berbice rivers are the major sites
for competition. The Essequibo is the setting for the lively
Easter regatta at Bartica, contested by indigenous canoes
and balahoos.
Mashramani, Guyana's most colorful and
distinctive festival, takes place on Feb. 23, Republic Day.
The name is derived from an Amerindian word meaning "the celebration
of a job well done," and 'Mash' as the festival is often called,
is a celebration indeed.