The Regatta Organising Committee is anticipating a fun-filled event as it prepares for this year’s Bartica Regatta slated to be held from April 19 to the 22.
This year the event is being held under the theme, “Come for the Party…Stay for the Fun” and will be headed by Mayor Gifford Marshall who said it will be a dawn of a new era as it relates to the pageant segment, especially with the introduction of education and sports in the pageant.
At a press conference Thursday at Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, the committee introduced nine women who will be contesting the Miss Bartica Regatta Pageant.
One of the pageant organizers, Dwight Beaton said the top three contestants will receive a full scholarship to the University of Guyana.
Along with the scholarships, the second runner up contestant will also receive GY$100,000; the first runner will receive GY$300,000 and the first place winner GY$500,000. A fourth scholarship will also be given to Miss Intelligent.
“Ladies will be contesting in the swimsuit segment, the intelligent and crowning the queen,” Beaton said.
Bartica is the one place in Guyana where three rivers meet, the Cuyuni, Mazaruni and Essequibo rivers.
It is the home of the famous Easter Weekend Regatta and attracts people from all parts of the country.
Bartica has been hosting the regatta for the last four decades and according to the Mayor, it started way back where persons in the mining fields would go around small circles in the river.
“We are very grateful for where regatta is today and we would have seen a transformation over the years in terms of the planning and execution,” the Mayor said.
He said this year’s event will place emphasis on what Guyana has to offer in terms of tourism.
Mayor Marshall said, “A simple ride up the Essequibo River is so scenic and of course so relaxing that at times I believe that the speed boat operators who traverse that river, I don’t think they will ever suffer with stress.”
The sports programme will commence in early April and includes basketball, dominos, cricket, volleyball, football, Gymkhana and dirt bike racing.
Other events include a Gospel Fest, the ‘Kiddies Fair’ and the much-anticipated ‘Regatta Wash Down’ featuring popular music, food and drinks.
