Culturama 2010 Patron and Slogan Selected

ZIZ News…March 20, 2010 – The Festivals Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Culturama 2010 slogan has been selected. The winning slogan “Culturama 2K10! A unique Cultural Blend!” was selected from among 77 entries and it was submitted by Ms. Linet Farrell, a resident of Church Ground Nevis. This winning slogan will be used to vigorously market Culturama 2010 locally, regionally and internationally.

For her winning slogan, Ms. Farrell will receive a plaque along with two complimentary tickets to all Culturama 2010 activities.

The Culturama Secretariat takes this opportunity to congratulate Ms Farrell for her winning slogan and also to thank all those persons who participated in the 2010 Culturama Slogan Competition.

The Nevis Culturama Committee is also pleased to announce that Mr. Eugen Claude “Canon” Pemberton of Cox Village, St. John’s Parish will be the distinguished Patron for the thirty sixth staging of Nevis’ Culturama Festival in 2010.

Mr. Pemberton has been involved in the preservation of folk music on Nevis for well over five decades. While in his teenage years Mr. Pemberton joined his village steel band group “In a Minute” and played the second pan. Following the demise of the “In a Minute Steel Band” in 1961, due to the migration of most of its players to Great Britain, Pemberton began to develop an interest in the guitar and started to learn the instrument. In 1963, at the age of 25, he became a member of the once famed Merit Boddie’s String Band and later in 1973, Pemberton who by now had developed into an accomplished guitarist, joined the now world famous Honey Bees String Band and has remained a member of this band up to this present day.

Pemberton has performed with the Honey Bees String Band at every Culturama Festival since its inception in 1974 and takes great pride in the fact that he has performed at every hotel in Nevis playing his guitar as part of the Honey Bees String Band. Pemberton has also performed twice with the Honey Bees String Band at Canada’s CARIBANA Festival. He has also represented Nevis at CARIFESTA in Trinidad in 1995 and St. Kitts/Nevis in 2000. Pemberton has also performed in Montserrat during their Christmas Festival and in St. Eustatius and the British Virgin Islands.

As Patron for Culturama 2010, it is expected that Mr. Pemberton would be present at all Culturama 2010 activities and that he would be the Grand Marshall leading the 2010 Culturama Cultural Street Parade on Tuesday August 3rd.

The Ministry of Social Development, the Nevis Cultural Development Foundation and the Nevis Culturama Committee salute Mr. Eugen Pemberton for his sterling contribution towards the advancement and preservation of Culture and Culturama on Nevis.