The hole has been plugged on hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the lighting and sound system for Blues Fest over the years.

Minister of Tourism the Hon Glen Beache in an interview with the Searchlight, said that the show which comes off on Friday March 9 and Saturday 10 and has been renamed the Blues & Rhythms festival, would have it’s own audio and illumination system.{{more}}

Beache said that in the past, costly equipment and crew would be brought in from Barbados but this time everything would be derived locally.

He said now that this country has its own sound and lighting system, the engineers would also ensure that everything was sharp not only for the local performers but also for the big name acts such as Kool and the Gang, Marva Wright, Arturo Tappin and Kassav.

Minister Beache said that the move to utilize local equipment would also ensure that overhead costs are kept to a minimum since putting on a show of such international stature was costly.

He noted that the Blues & Rhythms festival was supposed to be held at Rawacou but because that facility was unfinished, the show would instead be held at the Emerald Valley Casino.

He explained, “We are trying new things and a new venue and so far the best we’ve seen was the Emerald Valley Casino where there is a large plot of land ideal to cater for the hundreds of patrons expected to attend the show. We are hoping that our show on the mainland would be as exciting as the recently concluded Bequia Blues Fest where people just got up from their chairs and partied.”

Beache said that the planning committee has expanded to ensure that more work gets accomplished because his staff at the Ministry of Tourism, Youth and Sports has already been stretched with organising World Cup Cricket which is set for the same time.

Beache also said that they have cut back on the number of complimentary tickets handed out to ensure that more revenue comes in from ticket sales. He assured the public that they would get their money’s worth since not only the international, but also the local acts would give astounding performances.

Although Beache, who was appointed Tourism Minister about one year ago, was last year criticised by some for not going on stage to welcome the audience to the event, he said he believes that he doesn’t need to speak at every event.

He explained, “The show is not about me, it is about the performers and people coming to have a good time. Not because the Ministry of Tourism has produced the show, it means that an official from government needs to welcome the audience, that is what the MC is there for. We are going to do things professionally and give people a phenomenal show.”

The Blues & Rhythms festival will be filmed and later aired in a television special on BET J.