‘Why must we pay to enter Festival events?’ – asks Donald E. de Castro
Speaking on his radio show Straight Talk aired on ZBVI 780AM on August 12, 2015, de Castro made his thoughts public on the issue.
It was seen that for the Festival concerns this year, on the nights with the big acts, persons were not allowed in unless they paid $20.
“They are bringing big bands and entertainers from outside and they want half of the money before they get here and the rest of it when they actually perform. And we have to pay for that when we should be celebrating our freedom,” he said.
“They also had some mess called a block party,” he said, referring to the official Festival launch and block party held in de Castro Street several weeks ago. “What does that have to do with our Emancipation? What does that have to do with our culture? What does that have to do with our history?” he asked.
Further, he said foreign artists are treated with the respect and appreciation not shown to the local artists. “And we are supposed to sit back and accept that? No. Virgin Islanders we need to put an end to that,” he said.
De Castro has long been a proponent of Festival being celebrated to reflect the truest sense of the events that took place so many hundreds of years ago. Every year he writes complaining about the deterioration of what he believes should be the true sense of the celebrations.
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16 Responses to “‘Why must we pay to enter Festival events?’ – asks Donald E. de Castro”
When its a pay night I stay far!
After Festival Committee getting over $500k each year, I ain't paying a dime! That's my tax money!