Grenada’s 2026 Festival of the Arts is set to launch with a series of meaningful updates and expanded programming, officials confirmed during the event’s official media launch held Tuesday at Kirani James Athletic Stadium. The Culture Division under the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Economy and Culture has announced one of the event’s flagship new additions: the Lauren Ramdhanny Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts, created to honor a pioneering figure in Grenada’s cultural community.
Kelvin Jacob, the division’s Chief Cultural Officer, explained that the award was established to celebrate the decades of transformative contributions Lauren Ramdhanny made to Grenada’s arts sector. Ramdhanny, an accomplished musical director and retired cultural officer, left an indelible mark on local performing arts, and the new annual award will carry forward her legacy. The accolade will be awarded annually to the participating school or performing group that demonstrates the most consistent all-around excellence, judged by both the highest cumulative award count across competition categories and sustained top-tier performance quality across multiple disciplines.
Alongside the new lifetime achievement-inspired award, festival organizers have added two new competitive music categories to the 2026 lineup: power soca and groovy soca. The expansion comes as a nod to the deep, longstanding connection between these beloved Caribbean music genres and generations of past festival participants, reflecting the event’s commitment to evolving alongside local cultural tastes.
Senator Quinc Britton, Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Economy and Culture, reaffirmed the Grenadian government’s unwavering commitment to growing the arts as a core tool for youth empowerment. In his remarks at the launch, Britton emphasized that national progress depends on more than just academic success. “We recognise that the future of our country depends not only on academic achievement, but also on the ability of our young people to express themselves, think creatively, and engage meaningfully with their culture,” he said. “These investments are deliberate, because we understand that culture is not a luxury — it is a foundation of our national development.”
For decades, the Grenada Festival of the Arts has served as an inclusive, accessible platform that brings together students and creative groups from across the country’s tri-island territory. Participants showcase their work across a diverse spectrum of artistic disciplines, ranging from music, dance, drama and theater to public speaking and literary arts. To strengthen the event’s impact, the Ministry of Education has partnered with the Culture Division to support the festival’s visual arts programming, a collaboration that education leaders have fully embraced.
Dr. Dianne Abel Jeffrey, Chief Education Officer, called the festival a one-of-a-kind asset for nurturing young Grenadian talent. “The real education lies in holistic development, and this is what the arts provide for our students,” she said. Dr. Jeffrey also praised the Culture Division and the broader ministry for creating structured opportunities for young people to build character, gain national recognition for their creativity, and grow beyond the traditional classroom. “The Ministry of Education welcomes this collaboration, which provides a space for students to showcase their talent,” she added.
Organizers have also integrated key improvements drawn from public feedback collected during last year’s national consultation focused on strengthening the festival. Three core changes will roll out in 2026: targeted subvention funding to offset participation costs for participating schools, new teacher recognition awards to honor educators who mentor young artists, and the addition of structured, skill-building training classes for competitors.
To guide participating schools through the 2026 festival process, the Culture Division will host a series of regional panel discussions across all school districts this May, covering key logistics including event registration, which formally opens to all participants on Monday, May 4, 2026. Pre-festival preparation is already well underway: skills-building workshops for theater arts, dance, and vocal performance have been held across Grenada and Carriacou, with additional training sessions scheduled to run through August to help participants refine their work ahead of the main event.