These are “Guadeloupean festivals for Guadeloupean people.
“Eight years ago, Kariculture published an article entitled “Festivals in the Caribbean: Guadeloupe must do better!” In this lengthy publication, we presented an overview of Caribbean festivals and a focus on Guadeloupean festivals.
We claimed that: unlike the Caribbean islands, in Guadeloupe, there is no search for profitability in festivals despite the quality of the events offered; there is no marketing of festivals abroad; there is a predominance of “major” traditional media (Guadeloupe 1ère, RCI, France-Antilles, etc.) in advertising campaigns, which share the budget to the detriment of alternative (digital) media that are boycotted by private promoters of cultural events and public authorities; and above all, there is a very large predominance of Guadeloupeans at these festivals.
Our statements did not please many who turned a blind eye to the shortcomings of these cultural events in our archipelago. There was no need for this study carried out by the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) – presented on June 7 on the occasion of the Festival Terre de Bues in Marie-Galante and commissioned by the Prefecture and the Région Guadeloupe – to see that local festivals bring nothing financially and promotionally to Guadeloupe.
The money spent by festival-goers who are exclusively “Guadeloupean” (92%) is just “recycled” locally, whereas on other Caribbean islands, festivals are primarily a means of bringing foreign currency into the country and developing the economy, thanks to the massive participation of foreign tourists.
Since the publication of our article “Festivals in the Caribbean: Guadeloupe must do better!”, other festivals have emerged in our archipelago and, even if their names are in English to perhaps make them seem “international”, they bring nothing economically.
We reiterate our conclusion from 2017: “When European, American or Caribbean festival-goers will buy their pakages (car, hotel room, restaurant, concert tickets or excursions) several months in advance from their country, the Guadeloupean festivals will have good progress towards fame and profitability”.
