{"id":3412,"date":"2022-09-22T17:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lauradowrich.com\/?p=3412"},"modified":"2024-01-05T17:02:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T17:02:46","slug":"more-than-burna-boy-tobago-arts-festival-part-of-a-bigger-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lauradowrich.com\/more-than-burna-boy-tobago-arts-festival-part-of-a-bigger-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"More than Burna Boy: Tobago arts festival part of a bigger plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
While all the attention has been placed on Burna Boy\u2019s performance at the Tobago Music, Arts and Culture festival next month, the event is so much more than a night with the self-proclaimed African giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, his performance is symbolic of the aims of the festival, which was created as a platform to display the work of Tobago\u2019s entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith this festival, we are bringing the global market to them, so Burna Boy is just not about a concert, he is a symbol of that global megastar that has a connection to who we are. It was intentional and purposeful to go with a Nigerian artist,\u2019 explained Arlene Lyons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf people are to be their best selves then they must be proud of who they are so that part of it, going back to roots, and the connection in the festival to our ancestry and getting connected to the Nigerian community, that part is important too, because that is where the resolve and inspiration will come from for those creative and entrepreneurial talents to really bear fruit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TOMAC is the brainchild of Arlene, owner of US-based cosmetology school Esani, Paul Mitchell the School, and her sister Corelli, a former banker, business woman and passionate lover of culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born and raised in Scarborough, Tobago, they birthed the idea of the festival during the last two years when the pandemic lockdowns ground everyone\u2019s life to a temporary halt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was when the sisters started thinking about legacy and discovered creative talent within their own family. In carving a space for their nieces and nephews, they stumbled upon a treasure trove of talent on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n