History

Barbados Gospelfest was established in 1993 by what was then known as the Barbados Tourist Board. The festival was the brainchild of the then Minister of Tourism Wes Hall, now Rev. Wes Hall, and the first event was a joint production between the Barbados Tourist Board and Mr. Alvin Jones of the USA. The parties brought Dr. Bobby Jones of Bobby Jones Gospel on board and this arrangement gave the festival and Barbados exposure to the international gospel community through its airing on Dr. Jones’ television program on Black Entertainment Television (BET).

From its inception top international Gospel artistes participated in the festival. These included, Dorothy Norwood, James Moore, Ben Tankard, Douglas Miller and then emerging artistes, Yolanda Adams and Kirk Franklin.

In 1995 the responsibility for the production of the festival was passed on to the Gospelfest Organising Committee made up of persons from the Christian community who had been involved in the planning for the first two years. The committee was chaired by Barbadian event manager, Adrian Agard. In 2003 Gospelfest (Barbados) Inc. was incorporated to carry on the management of the festival.

While maintaining the mandate of attracting visitors to the island, consistent efforts were made to ground Barbados Gospelfest as a Barbadian/Caribbean festival with an international appeal, incorporating and reflecting strong elements of the cultural reality of the Caribbean. This was done by ensuring that local and regional artistes participated and shared the stage with the international acts.

Opportunities were also given for the exposure and development of a wider range of artistic expression including dance and mime.

The international nature of the festival has been characterised by the scope of participation with artistes being drawn from Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada, Jamaica, US Virgin Islands, the French island of Martinique, and the USA among others.

Leading exponents of Barbadian Gospel music such as Joseph Niles, Sis. Magarita Marshall, Promise, Tony Lowe, The Miracles and Gratitude have graced the Gospelfest stage and contributed to the success of the festival, while venues such as Farley Hill National Park (first used in 2004), the Jackie Opel Amphitheatre, and Heroes Square have added a unquie caché to the festival, branding it as distinctly Barbadian.

Over the years the list of international and regional artistes has been impressive. Leading Gospel artistes such as Donnie McClurkin, Kirk Franklin, Alvin Slaughter, Tramaine Hawkins, Candi Staton, Harrella Goodwin, the late Ras Shorty I of Trinidad & Tobago, Richard Smallwood & Vision, Keith Staten, and Shine the Light have all left their imprint on the festival which has emerged as “the Caribbean’s Premier Gospel Festival.”