To the tune of about $60 million; the way is being paved for the staging of the much-anticipated Cece Winans international mega gospel concert billed for January 16, 2013.
The concert was officially launched on last Wednesday at the Princess International Hotel and Casino, Providence, East Bank Demerara. It was announced that the 10-time Grammy award- winning gospel artiste and a team of 15 will headline the concert titled “The Fulfilment”.
Aside from attracting the Christian community in Guyana, in the Caribbean and from around the world, it is hoped that this concert will be the first of an annual event. These were the sentiments of the organiser, Inspire Incorporated’s chief executive officer, Yog Mahadeo.
Inspire Incorporated is a group that was started over a year ago by several businessmen in the aim of focusing on the entertainment business with an eye towards development of Guyana. “We are hoping that this would be the catalyst for events of this nature being held annually in the month of January as a uniting factor to make division ultimately part of the nation’s past,” Mahadeo explained.
He related that since the initial announcement several weeks ago, the Guyanese community have expressed excitement and the Christian community not only endorsed the event but threw their support behind the event.
Princess International Hotel is the first sponsor to be on board and optimism is high that other members of the corporate community will join the hotel.
Reverend Kwame Gilbert, one of several pastors who spoke at the launch, highlighted Cece is one of the most outstanding gospel artistes in the world and her coming will add to the feasibility of developing a gospel tourism industry, with a down the road projection of TD Jakes visiting.
“It’s going to be an awesome event, and I encourage the Guyana population despite of culture, race, or creed to come on board, including corporate Guyana,” Gilbert said enthusiastically.
Pastor Simon Harris said Guyana has been buzzing about the concert since news of it was leaked, and January 26 is going to be a great day for Guyana.
Also speaking at the launch was Pastor Oliver Kanhai who said his parish communities of Mc Doom, Agricola, and Eccles are looking forward to the event at a time that is dedicated to prayers and peace in the nation in 2013. He sees this as a perfect opportunity to unite Guyana as a nation in thanksgiving.
Pastor Ralph Harte, head of the Second Coming band, said the very cream of the crop from Guyana, both local and overseas based, will also share the stage. The technical committee is looking to include artistes from across the 10 administrative regions in Guyana.