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December 27, 2025
December 27, 2025
December 27, 2025
The Masquerade Association (Guyana) Inc. has officially announced the launch of Guyana Masquerade Day, a new national observance to be celebrated annually on November 29.
The inaugural celebration is scheduled to take place at 2:00 PM on November 29, 2025.
The observance emerges directly from an urgent call issued by the UNESCO Workshop on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), held in Georgetown from April 23-25, 2025, which emphasized the immediate need to safeguard Guyana’s rapidly declining Masquerade tradition.
That call was strongly reinforced during the subsequent UNESCO-supported Masquerade Lives On Symposium, which examined the challenges confronting the artform and identified opportunities for revitalisation, innovation, and the development of sustainable livelihoods.
Guyana Masquerade Day is an initiative of the newly established Masquerade Association (Guyana) Inc., created to lead national efforts in preservation, education, research, and creative entrepreneurship within this national creative genre.
The launch ceremony will be held in the compound of the Guyana National Museum.
The event will feature formal remarks from cultural stakeholders and will culminate in a grand Flounce Off by the National Masquerade Bands.
A key part of the ceremony will be the official unveiling of a 13-year-old mural depicting the heritage of Masquerade Arts, which is currently undergoing rehabilitation with support from Continental Agencies Ltd.
The mural was initiated by international Guyanese artist, Errol Doris, a Board member of the USA-based, Guyana Cultural Association New York Inc., and was executed by students of the E.R. Burrowes School of Art.
The selection of November 29 pays tribute to Rudolph “Putagee” Vivieros, the revered Guyanese Masquerade ‘flute man’ who passed away on this date in 2023.
It also ushers in the start of the Guyanese Christmas season, when Masquerade once animated villages, communities, and city streets, bottom houses and backyards across the country. Distinguished Guyanese Artist Hew Locke, OBE, RA, noted, “Christmas in Guyana wasn’t complete without a Masquerade band”.
The Masquerade Association (Guyana) Inc. calls on all Guyanese—government, families, schools, communities, private sector partners, and cultural institutions—to join in this renewed effort to safeguard, celebrate, and revitalise this treasured element of our national heritage.
For more information, the public can contact the Chair, Masquerade Association (Guyana) Inc; GuyanaMasquerade@gmail.com; or WhatsApp +592-623-0388.
