It’s an experience, a good feeling and a vibration all rolled into one at this weekend’s inaugural Kemet Festival.
According to managing director Harande Elie, it is a two-day festival hosted over April 14-15 that celebrates food, yoga and dub to enrich body, mind and spirit.
The festival happening at the Belmont Community Centre, Jerningham Avenue, Belmont is said to be erected on the foundational principles of peace and harmony. Elie says with the many tears currently existing in the social fabric of this land, the festival aims at celebrating peace as its main endeavour.
“The overall objective is to promote peace and unity. We have all been seeing—and some of us have unfortunately been experiencing—the harsh effects of the turbulent society in which we currently dwell. These violent and crime-filled times did not happen overnight and are clearly a result of a lack of wholesome and positive values and vibrations in the country. In order to begin the process of turning this around, it is clear that we need to inject more positive, constructive and edifying thoughts, words and deeds into our communities, and the Kemet Festival is just one effort at providing the kind of positivity we need to sweep across the nation,” Elie explained.
He added, “The festival is centred on three essential components of life, which are nutrition, exercise and positive mental stimulation. The Kemet Festival aims to supply a relaxing and therapeutic environment that eases the mind and lifts the vibration of the soul using the three catalysts of food, yoga and reggae music.”
Apart from this, Elie noted the festival also provides a space for networking and launching new talents in the fields of music, craft and fashion.
Elie told the T&T Guardian that throughout the two-day programme, the festival will showcase Rastafarian culture through spoken word, cultural reasoning and its artisan market. He believes much can be learned through the Rastafari culture and it should be celebrated and recognised for its positive wider effects on integration, tolerance and love.
He said patrons will also enjoy first class music and live performances from internationally acclaimed acts, like Jah9 and the Dub Treatment Band, Jah Bouks, and local beloved, Prophet Benjamin.
“Jah9 is a powerful female artiste, poet, yoga instructor and all-round activist for the improvement of the human condition, who hails from Jamaica. She focuses her work on the African diaspora. Jah Bouks is also from Jamaica and scored a breakout hit in 2013 after years of performing live with various sound systems with his first-ever recording titled Call Angola,” said Elie.
On Friday, participants will experience Yoga on Dub led by Jah9 and Gicelle Maglorie Mayers. There will also be spoken word performances, cultural reasonings and a special guest appearance by T&T’s reggae sensation Isasha.
Saturday’s programme will include a live concert with Jah9, Jah Bouks and Prophet Benjamin, as well as Stephanie Joseph, Empress Goodness and Kuushite.
The atmosphere will be further thickened with positive vibes by established deejays scheduled to appear during the course of the festival. They include Nyahbinghi Roots and Culture, Black Chariot International, Nine Miles International, Zion Rose, New Chapter Sound, Suns of Dub, DJ Sweet V from New York, Corner Stone Sound from Miami and Fifty Kaliba Sound featuring Fiyah Y from Jamaica.
“It is going to be a blend of all things good. A big part of this festival is also paying respect to women who are really like the salt of this earth and this will be reflected in the performances you will see,” said Elie.
The event is put on by Full Moon Limited, a creative management organisation specialising in concept and design, artiste and event management, as well as personal and event security services.
Elie extended special thanks to Cost Cutters Supermarket for collaborating with the organisation to make Kemet Festival a reality.
More info
WHAT: Two-day Kemet Festival
WHEN: April 14-15
WHERE: Belmont Community Centre, Jerningham Avenue, Belmont, Port-of-Spain
TICKETS: Call 288-8026 or 310-3025, or email fullmoonmgmt@gmail.com
