YéleFest

STATUS: implemented December 2006 + December 2007 / ongoing

A weekend of connecting culture and the arts with Haitian and international artists, youth and development

NEED: The future of Haiti is going to depend to a great degree on the capacity of young people to find new ways to engage in development. The visual, literary and performing arts represent a strong and vibrant force in Haiti, but they have not been used to enlist youth in shaping the future of the country. The arts and culture are a significant resource that must be brought into the mainstream of development in this struggling nation.

RESPONSE 2007: YéleFest is now an annual event that takes place every year in Haiti in early December. Wyclef Jean invites international and Haitian musicians, together with key stakeholders in development, to inform the international community about progress being made in Haiti.

YéleFest 2007, which had the theme “Fyète Nasyonal”, took place on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at the Champs de Mars in Port-au-Prince. The free concert featured Wyclef and his guest Akon, Grammy Award-nominated Senegalese hip-hop and R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. More than 300,000 Haitians attended the concert, which received extensive international and national media coverage.

Implementing Partners YéleFest 2007:

Sponsored by: Government of Haiti, CHF, Foundation Bernard Mevs, Brasserie la Couronne

Platinum Sponsors: Andrew and Monica Ansaldi, Bongu, Marc Antoine Acra

Gold Sponsors: Jean Henry Céant, Actimed, Compagnie Haitienne de Moteurs, MSC Trading, Youri Mevs, Tortug’air, Access Haiti, Comsuc, Gedimex, AFS, Western Union, Sarah Rhau, US Embassy, Daniel Jadotte, FD Plus.

Principle Sponsor YéleFest 2007:

RESPONSE 2006: For the first YéleFest in 2006, Yéle brought young Haitian artists, filmmakers, musicians and actors together for one week of activities in Jacmel, Haiti, with representatives of non-governmental organizations, volunteer groups, development agencies and donor governments. The program was designed to allow these diverse groups the opportunity to explore ways to use culture and the arts to create new models for achieving sustainable development.

YéleFest was a joint initiative with Festival Film Jakmèl, and the two events place simultaneously from November 24 to December 1, 2006 – with several overlapping activities. The culmination of both was a free concert by Wyclef Jean.

Festival Film Jakmèl is one of the country’s premiere cultural events, now partnering with the Miami and Toronto International Film Festivals. Leading names in international cinema including Dreamworks, HBO, Lions Gate and Sony lent award-winning films that attracted thousands of enthusiastic viewers daily. Films screened non-stop in packed theaters, while renowned film directors and talent were presented to meet the press and public.

The principle elements of YéleFest 2006 were:

Falla Boucan: Yéle Haiti, in partnership with the Montreal-based TOHU organization, brought together 22 young Canadians and Haitians – a combination of young artists and youth leaders – for one week. The most visible result was the giant but fleeting sculpture that built by participants and then burned in a ceremony as part of a concert by Wyclef. See “Falla Boucan” for more details.

Development Seminars: five seminars took place over the course of the week, each starting with a documentary (dubbed in Creole) on a key social and/or development issue: food and national food production, community development, women and violence, environment and finally World AIDS day on December 1.

Concert by Wyclef: in a free concert on the beach of Jacmel for an estimated 40,000 people, Wyclef gave a musical performance that dazzled and entertained the audience on site and, via television and radio, throughout the country. But his performance went beyond entertainment by embodying the hopes of the nation and the highest collective aspirations of its people for a better future. Wyclef has become the tangible link between music and development, and that connection was on display on the beach in Jacmel in a concert that ended in a display of fireworks never before seen in that part of the country.

Implementing Partners YéleFest 2006:
Film Festival Jakmèl
TOHU, la Cité des arts du cirque

Collaborating Partners YéleFest 2006:
Embassy of Canada in Haiti
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (Haiti)

Principle Sponsor YéleFest 2006:

Photo: Wyclef Jean and Akon in concert in Port-au-Prince,Haiti, on December 15, 2007.