Today we’d like to introduce you to Patricia Henry.
Patricia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I joined Atlanta Caribbean Carnival 11yrs ago, my reason for joining the organization was because I was very outspoken and they thought I would be a good fit to join the Board of Advisers. Upon joining the organization, they did not have a treasurer or secretary and no one wanted to take on the position so they ended up asking me to take both positions. I was secretary/treasurer for three years until I became the President of the organization. I took the event from 5,000 to over 20,0000 viewers.
As someone from the Caribbean, I wanted to take our culture to another level. The Caribbean thrives on tourism and I wanted to produce this event so that others would visit the Caribbean to see our carnival and what we have to offer which is our beautiful beaches, food, scenery, nightlife, and culture. What we do here in Atlanta is just giving them a taste of what they would experience if they visited our carnival in the Caribbean. Three years ago I started to showcase a different Caribbean island each year. So far we have celebrated Jamaica, Antigua, USVI and next year we will be celebrating Barbados and two of their most influential artist will be given Proclamation awards from the city of Atlanta.
I am well respected by the City of Atlanta and the Mayors Office. I have gotten a proclamation award from the City of Atlanta. I was also given a Women Empowerment Award, and three weeks ago I was given another award by the United States Senator in Las Vegas for my contribution to the Latin Caribbean Festival. I have sat on several panels to address the Caribbean Disapora and problems we face in the world today.
Because of my work here in Atlanta, I was approached by the Nigerian Governor to bring ten girls with me to Calabar Nigeria for Carnival all expense paid, we will be leaving for Nigeria this month. I am very passionate about spreading the Caribbean culture, several Celebrities have also taken part in our event to name a few Dwight Eubanks, Peter Thomas, Yandy Smith Harris, and Kaela Parker Tucker.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, there were lots of challenges along the way, however because of my passion and determination for my Caribbean Culture I was very persistent. I made sure when am having issues I go to City Hall to meet with the councilman to ask for assistance.
One of our biggest struggles is sponsorship and we bring in over 20,000 people to the City of Atlanta. Hotels and airlines are sold out. Shopping malls make money and we need the City to give us some more support in terms of sponsorship.
Please tell us about ATLANTA CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL.
Our business is called Atlanta Caribbean Carnival Bandleaders Association and we are the producers of The Official Atlanta Caribbean Carnival. We have been doing this event for over 30 yrs in the City of Atlanta. We have a parade with lots of different costumes and tons of onlookers show up at our event to see those beautiful costumes this sets us apart because we are the only Caribbean organization that does this in Atlanta.
After the parade everyone goes to the festival village where we have vendors from all over the Caribbean as well as American vendors. People love our event they get to enjoy our Caribbean dishes without even having to go to the Caribbean. We fly in artist from all over the Caribbean to perform on our main stage which is different and everyone enjoys our event.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from childhood is taking part in Carnival as a kid, spending time with my family in the islands.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.atlantacarnival.org
- Phone: 4045196120
- Email: president.atlantacarnival@gmail.com
- Instagram: presidentatlcarnival
- Facebook: Atlanta Caribbean Carnival
Image Credit:
Tony Ellis and Zeriba Med
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
