NCFA Opens with Speech Prelims

The National Children’s Festival of the Arts got underway on Thursday 16 April 2015, with speech and drama performances by eight primary and high schools at the Church of God on Walkers Road.

By the time competition ends on Grand Cayman on Tuesday 21 April, judges will have travelled around the Island to assess more than 100 items by individuals and speech choirs from a total of 15 Government and private schools,

Young people are presenting dramatic readings of poems and plays in standard and dialect English, by overseas authors and local writers like Nasaria Suckoo-Chollette, Alta Solomon, and Patricia Bent.

Following the CICSA Co-operative Credit Union Instrumental Showcase on the morning of 22 April, music eliminations open the next day and continue for a week.

At the end of the month the Amin Mohammed Memorial Steel Band Competition is set for 29 April at the Mary Miller Memorial Hall. The festival is also asking schools to observe International Jazz Day on 30 April.

Meanwhile on Cayman Brac, speech and drama eliminations take place on 27 April and music eliminations on 28 April.

May 2015 highlights include the dance adjudication on 4 May, the Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd. Young Musician of the Year Competition on 7 May, as well as arts and craft exhibitions on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. The NCFA Final Concerts are open to the public on 9 May in Cayman Brac, and run from 11-14 May in Grand Cayman.

Officials will recognise award-winning entries on 29 May.

Photos: GIS

1. George Town Primary School’s Speech Choir during their performance of Valerie Bloom’s Tall Tales.
2. A Red Bay Primary student arms akimbo, performs a poem by RBPS teacher Patricia Bent in front of the NCFA judges.