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Gombey Festival 2009

Source:: Department of Communication and Information | Published: 25 October 2009

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Gombey Festival 2009 was held on Sunday 4 October, 2009 at the City Hall Car Park.  This event is held annually and provides the opportunity to celebrate the folk dances and practices of our Bermuda Gombeys.  There are approximately six Gombey Troupes and this celebration provides the opportunity to showcase the dance style of each troupe.

During this celebration a Master of this local Folk art will be chosen to be honored.  This year the honoree will be Mr. John “Pickles” Spence who thirty years ago, was the leader of the popular Carnival Gombey Troupe.  This group broke with tradition and produced a troupe of dancers who used the traditional Gombey music but whose dancers wore costumes which had a unique carnival glitz.

To compliment this year’s Gombey Festival Programme, a special invitation has been issued to the Emerald Shamioles Masquerade Dancers of Montserrat.  This group has the similarities with our Gombey Music but their costumes are non traditional. 

As part of my approved 400th Anniversary programme I would like to invite a total of fifteen dancers and musicians, from Montserrat, to perform at our Gombey Festival.  As our guests, these folk dancers will showcase the importance of the passing on of traditions – in the case of this group, it will be evident that the traditions of Gombey music are passed on even though the costumes vary. I would like them to have the opportunity to visit some schools on Friday 2 October, 2009, and I am sure our students would find this to be an enriching cultural experience.

Sincerely,

Louise Tannock
Cultural Affairs Programme Manager