Mayor Youseph promises bigger ArimaFest

Mayor of Arima Ghassan Youseph yesterday launched ArimaFest 2012 at the Arima Town Hall and promised a bigger celebration this year in spite of funding challenges. This is the second staging of the ArimaFest and is being organised to celebrate the 124th anniversary of the Royal Chartered Borough of Arima. The theme this year is “Celebrate Arima Together.”

Youseph, speaking with the T&T Guardian at his office in the Arima Town Hall, promised the celebrations would be at least four times greater than the funds expended in the event. “We are very adventurous. The funding is always a challenge but we keep trying. Last year was our first venture as a new council, and our output was double in my estimate (what) the previous council the year before,” he said.

Youseph said this was because his council had taken the initiative to introduce new attractions that had generated greater interest from residents of Arima and across the country. “We introduced new things. We introduced the food festival for the first time in Arima, which was very successful.

“We introduced an art show, which was supposed to be for a week in the town here but went for two weeks, and because it was so successful this time we will run it for four weeks,” he said. He added that all this was done with half of the funds that the previous administration had received to celebrate Arima’s anniversary.

“This year we are doing more things. Last year we didn’t have parang, this year we are bringing parang. We bringing something called ParangRama which will be by the Dial, because Arima is the capital of parang,” he said. The mayor also said a float would be featured in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Independence, which he said was a “significant milestone.”

At the launch, deputy mayor Patricia Cedeno-Metivier, chair of the celebration committee, revealed more details. “From the revered military parade and civic reception to a sophisticated art exhibition and an elegant Borough Queen Show, from ParangRama and the well-beloved Borough Day street jump-up to a food festival and the first ever boxcart derby, we are confident that there is something for everyone in this year’s Borough celebrations,” she said.