GombeyFest 16 Behind de Scenes [Video]

AYO!
AYO!
AYO!
That’s what you’ll hear from the crowd gathering around the beat no matter what age. Colourful tassels twist and turn, and axes swing. You’ll also see Gombeys moving to their own personification in likes their very own dress. From tiny toddlers to full aged adults that weathered many years of Bermuda’s landscape, everyone comes together in tune and times to jive to the hypnotic gombey beat.

Celebrating our heritage, over the weekend de annual Gombey fest was held and we were able to live shru it shru de eyes of our own and also, Carlita Lodge’s. Taking over our massive Snapchat platform, Cultural Affairs Programme Manager Carlita gave we lot and many other biez de ability to see de other side of how de fest runs while catching local vibes like de 3 Kings and ah favourite Gombey troupes - we won’t tell you who that is - but in de end she’s about de coming together to appreciate the good vibes.

Catching her after de event, we asked Carlita a few questions just to see how she felt about de whole ding, hurr's wha she thought.

BM: Being an organizer, in ya eyes, wha was de Gombeyfest experience like?

CL: Gombey Festival filled me with a deep, pounding, unrelenting sense of national pride. Gombey Festival 2016 was fabulous: the troupes were incredible and Arijahknow Live Wires & The Kings performed an amazing opening act. Thank you to everyone involved, everyone that came to support, and every single Gombey. Gombey culture is a huge, incredibly significant part of Bermuda and every time I hear the rhythm my heart grows, my body moves, my soul shines. Ayo!

BM: Sounds like you had fun, Hurr’s one more for you. Wha was it like being on the other side of Bermemes snapchat?

CL: It was a lot of fun being on the other side of the Bermemes Snapchat account! It was amazing to see how quickly so many people watched the stories and it was fun to drop a little knowledge about the history of the Gombeys. If I hadn’t gotten so busy running around the event, I would have liked to share more information. For those that came out to the event, our MC did a great job of highlighting interesting Gombey facts. It is so important that people reflect upon the cultural significance of the Gombeys: that history is essential to understanding the Bermuda we live in today.

You can relive de vibes shru Calita's takeover video, BUT ALSO! Don't forget to keep up wif Bermy kulcha like we lot do even mmore by following de Dept of Community & Culture Affairs FB and de Kite Strings + Cedar Berries newsletter

BOOM! Check de vid don!