Biddeau Drum Festival to showcase African culture

The Eastern Emancipation and Cultural Committee (EECC) will be once again hosting the Biddeau Drum Festival in commemoration of the works and the contribution of Andrew and Jeffrey Biddeau to African culture in Trinidad. 

This year the festival will take place in the form of three major events, a workshop on Saraka (Big Drum Dance), a street parade and cultural presentation and a Saraka feast, a release from the organisers said. 

The drum festival honours the contribution made by the Biddeau family to the culture of T&T. While the festival itself started only in 2011, its central event, the Saraka ancestral feast, including Big Drum dances of Carriacou, has been a celebration of the Biddeau clan for generations.

The collaborators in this undertaking are the EECC, the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation and T&T Afro-Caribbean Drummers Association. 

The festival is intended to highlight and help preserve African ancestral traditions where the art form is concerned and educate the public about the significance of these traditions.

The cultural presentation takes place on August 8 at the Eastern Main Road, Sangre Grande, next to Royal Castle from 4 pm.

Workshops on Saraka (ancestral songs and rhythms) are also scheduled.

For further information, please contact 791-2301 or 364-8964