Despite widespread criticism of young people due to their involvement in violent crimes, there are many young Barbadians being praised for ministering to and uplifting others, says a senior manager of the two-decades old Barbados Gospelfest.
Executive Producer of the 2025 edition, Adrian Agard, emphasised that there is a need to shift the focus onto the positive initiatives of young people, and said the Gospelfest continues to serve as a powerful platform for youth to express themselves and build meaningful skills.
“There are hundreds of young people involved. Gifted young people come out to Farley Hill National Park, come to One Awesome Day, come to Laughter and Jazz, come to Ultimate Gospel. The mass choir alone is close to 100 voices . . . who are they made up of? People from out of Mars? They are [young] people from right here in Barbados,” he explained.
Agard revealed that the team is currently preparing to take a group of young Barbadians to St Vincent and the Grenadines to minister through the arts, showcasing not just their musical gifts but their passion for spreading the gospel.
“You know there are so many young people who are involved in ministry in Barbados, and many of them are extremely talented, the church affords them the best opportunity to hone their skills. Where else in Barbados do people go and be able to play the piano, play the instruments every week consistently [but] in the church? What we need to do is to find ways to channel that so that they don’t have to be distracted by other things when those skills are honed. That is what this festival seeks to do,” he insisted.
Though he thanked Chefette and other corporate sponsors for coming on board once again this year to support the festival, he noted that there seemed to be a worrying trend of local companies who have foreign ownership shunning away from offering support.
“There are many others…who also have a perspective influenced by foreign entities and foreign concepts who don’t understand what happens in Barbados. [Some companies] have policies that say we don’t support religious events.
“What we do and what we’ve been doing is impacting this nation. This is a very core part of who we are in Barbados. I dare people to just sit in a boardroom outside Barbados and decide that we don’t support religious events. What’s that about? Out of our churches, . . . Barbados [has] produced great people in their very corporations, people that they want to hire because of their Christian character. And then you’re gonna sit and say you don’t support, but generally we thank God for those who do,” he said.
Gospelfest continues to attract a broad cross-section of Caribbean and international talent, with young artistes and groups taking centre stage.
This year’s lineup includes the return of celebrated gospel artiste Bridget Blucher from St Vincent and the Grenadines, who will be celebrating her birthday in Barbados during the festival.
He further added, “Then we go to One Awesome Day; we’re happy to have Positive out of Trinidad and Tobago, Sherwin Gardner, we have Kevin Adams and Voices of Praise out of Canada. There’s quite a large group coming out of The Bahamas, a dance group that’s visiting us, but there’s a good mix from across the Caribbean here in Barbados and beyond, and people coming to Barbados will get a chance to experience all of it.”
This year’s festival is slated to run from May 25 to June 1.
(SB)
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