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PHILIPSBURG--Beyond Writing Foundation (BWF) hosted this year's edition of Kids Night Out at Philipsburg Cultural and Community Centre on Friday evening.
Similar as during previous issues of this event, which started as an open-air theatrical picnic under the stars at Emilio Wilson Park, children and their parents enjoyed an evening of storytelling and reading, plays, music and dance but this time from the public gallery at the Cultural Centre.
Under the theme "Multicultural Island/Story Night," BWF presented a varied show to stimulate storytelling, reading and writing, which was hosted by moderators Anenda Zaandam and St. Maarten Senior Carnival Queen 2014 Bria Sorton.
The readings were alternated with performances by students of Charlotte Brookson Academy, Learning Unlimited and National Institute of Arts (NIA), as well as by a demonstration of taekwondo martial arts by Master Browne and two of his students.
Storytelling, however, was the main dish, to which master raconteur Papa Umpo added his distinct and unparalleled flavour with the story "Nora and the cherries," which was situated at the dry ditch in Colombier, French St. Martin.
Other readers for the evening included Tanya Powel-Stevens, who read from The Book with No Pictures, which not only proved to contain no photographs but also hardly any intelligible words.
Mature Carnival Queen Anna Rabess-Richardson and Teen Queen D'shnay York also read book fragments.
BWF organises storytelling events for the past 11 years. The foundation also publishes children's books and is the organiser of the Caribbean Living Statues Festival.
Founded and presided over by author of children's books Loekie Morales, BWF considers the telling of stories to be an integral part of Caribbean tradition, which should be kept alive. It, therefore, did not come as a surprise that Kids Night Out was closed off with a raffle of books for five lucky winners.
