We often talk about culture in a flat, one dimensional way, almost as if it were simply a definition to be read from a stuffy page, or an item sitting still in a cold museum. Through the layered confines of academic discourse, culture is compartmentalized, institutionalized and synthesized; and with these disconnecting reference points, we, as a community, can lose sight of the need to exercise culture as a living medium through which our history, song, dance, food and story crash together in celebration of the currency of life and people.

Carib Fest, at its inception, was birthed from a similar need: the strong, ancestral compass that guilds all Caribbean's had no legitimate place to channel the roots of our rich community. And what original started out as a simple gathering of a few, has exploded into a textured event held annually, where people of all backgrounds come to one place to sing Caribbean song, dance Caribbean dance, and eat Caribbean "eats". All of this is done with passion, reverence and abandon.

We capture the summer sun in the colors of the Caribbean vocabulary. Here in Richmond, Virginia, a canvas of culture is painted in the light.