Every year since 2007, the town of Aquin has hosted the four-day “International Festival of Traditional Music and Dance”, especially on Holy Thursday. Under the aegis of the Aquin Solidarity Foundation (FAS), the Aquin public is always treated to the best dance choreography and top-class concerts. For the second year running, the event has been cancelled for reasons linked to the local and global context.
While the coronavirus pandemic forced the staff to cancel the 13th edition, this year’s political turbulence has once again put a damper on the event.
Visiting the city during Holy Week, young people and professionals expressed their disappointment at this state of affairs.
“It’s already been two years since the town has welcomed a single visitor,” complain these young people, arguing that the festival is a very beneficial event for Aquin.
Film screenings, documentaries and conferences are a cultural window open to young people during this event.
As for small traders, shopkeepers and hotel owners, these two years represent a loss of income for them. The Aquin Festival is often a golden annual opportunity for them to restore their economic health.
Artists from all over the world usually take part in this festival. Haitian music greats leave their mark on this major cultural event.
The festival will resume next year, if the pandemic is brought under control, if the political unrest ceases and if work on the Place d’Aquin is completed, according to one of the heads of the Aquin Solidarité foundation, speaking to Gédéon Delva, a well-known local journalist.
Richarson Bigot
