Sub-Regional Youth Music Festival In the Offing

As part of celebrating music festival globally, The Gambia is also one of the countries in the Sub-region to host a one day Sub-regional Youth music festival organised by the National Centre for Arts and Culture NCAC under the auspies of The Gambia National Commission for UNESCO NATCOM. This international event which is place under the distinguished Chief Patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Professor Dr Alhagi Yahya AJJ Jammeh, President of the Republic of The Gambia will take place tomorrow at the July 22nd Square in Banjul. The event will attract musicians from The Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bassau and Mali.

Speaking in an interview with Entertainment at the National Centre for Arts and Culture in Banjul, Mr Cornelius J. Gomez, Director of Literature, Performing and Find Arts at the National Centre for Arts and Culture said the main objective of this festival is to foster unity, peace and integration among youths of the sub-region. He added that the festival aims to strengthen inter-cultural dialogue and promote cultural diversity.

According to Mr Gomez, the festival provides a unique opportunity to revitalize our rich cultural heritage, which is on the extinction, as well as to promote unity and cooperation among people of diverse backgrounds. As all governments in the world takes into consideration, Mr Gomez explained, the importance of youths development is their national agenda. He noted that in The Gambia, the National Centre has develop lots of strategy inorder to work closely with the youths and to be able to help them out to become fully responsible in the society.

He said as an artistic and cultural institution, the National Centre for Arta and Culture have come to find out lots of youths especially around the urban and pre- urban who are very much involved in the area of music. The Literature, Performing and Find Arts Director went on to explained that youths are not only sending out messages throughout The Gambia but they are also excelling the musical instrument to the whole world. This is the first sub-regional youth music festival in The Gambia. Mr. Gomez thanked The Gambia National Commission for UNESCO NATCOM and Gamcel for sponsoring the event.