While the idea of hosting an Emancipation Festival that is free for all to attend is possible, residents must be realistic about the ability of the government to take on this cost, and the impact it will have on other areas.
Those are the sentiments of Premier Dr the Honourable Natalio Wheatley who addressed inquiries on the topic at a recent press conference.
Premier Wheatley, who stressed that free-to-attend events are not free to host, told the press, “One thing that the people of the Virgin Islands have to wrap their heads around is that the type of festivals you want costs money and the money has to come from somewhere.”
“If you want all to come from the government that’s a decision we can have, or if you want some to come from the government and some to come from our corporate sponsors”, he added.
While the possibility for increased corporate sponsorship exists, Dr. Wheately noted that this route could be challenged due to existing concerns that it would result in the commercialization of the Emancipation Festival.
He said, “These are decisions that we as a people can make. If we want all to come from taxes, just know if the government puts in more it’s going to take away money from other things… I do think it is a good thing for our businesses to be involved but of course, they will want something in return for that… They may want to be able to monopolize services in some type of way. But it’s a discussion for us”, he said.
Premier Wheatley said it is his hope that the Festival Committee will soon engage with members of the public to get a feel on their views of this year’s festival activities, and an understanding of what form residents would like to see the event take moving forward.
This, he said, could also take place by way of a survey in which members of the public would be asked to review the events and give suggestions and views on how the experience could be made better in the coming year.