Mashramani is to some just another holiday. There are those who go even farther to call it immoral and denounce the revelry, claiming it to be senseless. And there are the few who call Mashramani a copycat Carnival. Last year around this time, my article focused on what made Mashramani different from Carnival celebrations, and what made it truly, uniquely Guyanese.
This year, I have decided to focus the article on the specific things that Mashramani contributes to our society. Mashramani benefits Guyana in some very measurable and observable ways. For example, it directly generates business opportunities for numerous people: costume/float designers, models, singers, songwriters and musicians to name a few. Artists in Guyana help to define our culture. Through their music, art, dances, and various creations, they display to the world what being Guyanese is like. However, in Guyana, personally, I find that opportunities to display and practice art, much less to be paid for it are incredibly hard to come by. This is one of the reasons why Mashramani is so incredibly important. Artists are sought out, they generate income, and they are encouraged to continue doing what they are doing. Mashramani also indirectly benefits vendors who are able to earn money from the crowds on Mash Day.
The festival also drives tourism. In Guyana, I feel like the approach to tourism is very straightforward; either people come home to see their family, or people come to experience the rainforest. Although there is some attempt to make our landmarks and museums marketable to tourists, I feel like more emphasis should be placed on festivals as attractors of tourists. Tourism is good for retaining culture. If our culture is seen as something that is desired, something that people would pay to see, there is incentive to preserve it. Likewise, unique culture is great for tourism, people want to see something they’ve never seen before, something that they can only get in Guyana, if done right, that could very well be Mashramani.
Finally, Mashramani is a show of unity. Putting on a costume and joining a ‘band’ immediately makes one part of something larger than the individual. It shows our ability as a people to put aside differences and publicly celebrate together. However, this idea of cohesion and oneness is brought forth in nearly every aspect of the Mashramani celebration. Song, steel-pan, poetry, dance and art competitions around this time are all centred on the idea of celebrating Guyana. This year, the theme is “Let’s cooperate and celebrate Republic 48”. Cooperation, I think, everyone agrees, is the only way to move forward. We cooperate at Mashramani to produce enthralling displays of colour and music, and we can cooperate during the rest of the year. Hope you all have a great Republic Day!
