An explosion of culture was on display as various communities competed for the Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy at the Independence Folk Festival. Held at the Naparima Bowl on Saturday, Minister of Community Development Winston "Gypsy" Peters delivered the feature address and described the event as "One of the richest shows of heritage and cultural diversity in T&T. We will enjoy the appearances of over 35 communities are in the finals." The show started with the National Song competition. Many communities sang renditions of popular local songs, with Denyse Plummer's Nah Leaving, performed by Inkredible Kreations, receiving thunderous applause from the crowd. Several recitals of God Bless Our Nation instilled a sense of patriotism. Drawing from the history, many of the groups re-enacted some of the rituals of our Indigenous people. The Prizgar Lands Kelly Village Cultural Performers in particular gave a compelling performance, as they illustrated a ritual giving thanks to the Gods through dance.
The national dance component of the competition sparked the loudest cheers from the audience. The dances portrayed the cultural diversity of the nation. The Malik Folk Performing Company received the loudest cheers members performed a recital entitled Patriotism. The dance captured all aspects of the nation's culture and gave thanks to the country's first prime minister Dr Eric Williams. The calypso competition saw many of the participants professing their love for their country via their lyrics. But it was Roger Johnson of the Homeland Garden Folk Performers and singing La Trinity who captivated the audience. Closing the ceremony was the energetic North West Laventille Cultural Movement limbo dancers. They kept the crowd mesmerised during the performance, which invoked loud cheers at the end of it. The Folk Festival is just one of the many initiatives planned for the competition. Among them are Village Chat, Poetry, Short Story, Folk Theatre/Folk Presentations, La Reine Rive, Handicraft, Clean and Beautify and Village Olympics.