Leaders of Governments and institutions from countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the continent of Africa, gathered at the weekend for the start of the second Africa-Caricom Summit in Ethiopia.

At home in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), the Ministry of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture, on Friday, September, 5, 2025, celebrated the day with an event at the old treasury building in Kingstown. From 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. a series of performances, including poetry, was staged, and items of fashion put on display. The annual celebration embraces historical and cultural similarities along with an opportunity for Africa and the Caribbean to build on shared values and interests, organisers told SEARCHLIGHT.

It also is about honouring the shared history, strong bonds of culture and the development of Africa, with emphasis on people-to-people connection, increasing trade, investment and travel between the two regions.

Director of Culture, Maxine Browne, explained that this year’s event, held under the theme: Preserving our heritage and empowering generations’, “…is significant because it provides a way for us to showcase and promote and preserve our intangible and tangible cultural heritage”. She added,…if we brag of  documentation and wanting to teach the youth the right, we have to ensure that we teach them and expose them and make them aware of who we are as a people”.

Participants, including primary school students, modelled cultural outfits for the fashion show. Poems were rendered by David “Darkie” Williams, and Kevin Rodriquez whose poems spoke to African history and struggles, which was also were expressed in dance, singing, and drumming.

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