Caracas, June 20, 2024. – The “Drums of ALBA: Beats of our identity” started this Thursday at the Bolívar Theater in Caracas, Venezuela. This event serves as a platform to highlight the ancestral culture of the member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP).

The event brings together more than 400 participants, including musical groups and speakers from Venezuela, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba, Benin, Grenada, Bolivia, Colombia, Haiti, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, among other countries and special guests.

This festival, which will take place until June 23, was opened with a musical performance by the Venezuelan group ‘Herencia Wifi’, followed by Mighty Gabby, cultural ambassador of Barbados, and the group ‘Skin Rhythm’ from Saint Lucia.

Similarly, various conferences were scheduled for Thursday and Friday, including: African Presence in Our Latin America and the Caribbean; Culture and Politics; Caribbean Identity and Spirituality; Economy and Cultural Tourism; and Caribbean Intellectualism.

The event’s program includes morning conferences followed by concerts and drum performances from various groups such as Tambor y Gloria (Venezuela), The Paix-Bouche Drummers (Dominica), Herencia WiFi (Venezuela), Les Espoirs Group (Benin, Africa), Hells Gate Steel Orchestra (Antigua and Barbuda), Drum Foundation (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), among others.

To celebrate the Feast of San Juan in the Bolivarian country and to facilitate cultural exchange among the different cultures present, the event includes visits to several states in Venezuela (Miranda, La Guaira, Carabobo, Aragua, and the Capital District), as well as a Spirituality Day procession in Caracas on June 22.