Minister of Culture and Community Development Michelle Benjamin has denied that Soca artiste Machel Montano is receiving a major payout for his Fantastic Friday appearance at Flava Village.
Speaking to journalists at a media conference on Friday morning, the Minister insisted that Mr. Montano is not being paid, describing his involvement as part of a wider strategy to expand access and create opportunities for artistes and citizens.
“When it comes to the arrangement with Mr. Montano, I would not say that he is being paid. What you would have seen with regards to Flava is the creation of opportunities. So bringing Machel in that space means that we are having dancers, we are having, I believe, is the A-band. Don’t quote me on that. I can’t remember the name of the band that he is in. Usually goes with. The A Team. Right, so we do have, which the A Team band was there already, so we have put things in place, and plus we have our run-up show to Machel, so the entire arrangement is providing more opportunities, and it is Fantastic Friday.”
Minister Benjamin said the Village has already drawn more than 300,000 visitors and is projected to pull over 30,000 more during Machel Montano’s appearance.
To absorb the surge, she said the NCC has redesigned the entire space.
“We would have moved the stage, making more spaces to the sides. If you had visited before, and you visit now, you’ll see some structural changes as to some of the booths, giving way to more space inside. So we did some spatial reallocation. And that aside, given the capacity where we would have tried to facilitate between, say, 9,000 to 10,000, we would have erected screens around the village outside to add and plus create opportunities for the vendors on the drag.”
Performances at Flava Village are expected to begin at 8pm.