Concerns over arts funding and the future of Bocas Lit Fest ^{CEFR B2}

Marina Salandy-Brown, founder and board president of the Bocas Lit Fest, wrote about recent changes in arts funding and linked them to wider problems in how Trinidad and Tobago values culture. She highlights two episodes involving the National Gas Company: reduced funding for steel orchestras in so‑called fenceline communities and the failure to secure the Banyan video archive, which was later bought by Barbados. She argues these decisions show a lack of long‑term commitment to cultural assets.

Salandy-Brown explains that while Carnival and pan attract public attention and funding, many other cultural areas struggle. Film events including the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, the Caribbean Film Festival, Green Screen and the Africa Film Festival rely heavily on private sector support. Smaller festivals compete for limited state grants from the Ministry of Culture.

NGC was the title sponsor of Bocas Lit Fest from 2012 to 2023; those three‑year cycles allowed planning and growth and helped the festival become internationally known. In 2024 NGC provided only partial funding and in 2025 it made no contribution. The 2025 festival therefore ran on a shoestring, depending on foreign programming partners, in‑kind help and smaller local sponsors. Only one partial sponsor is confirmed so far for 2026, and organisers say they may have to rethink the festival’s scale and format if additional proposals fail.

Running an arts NGO requires legal, accounting and human resources work; Bocas spends over 10 percent of revenue on compulsory administrative expenses such as audits, while the state’s contribution is less than three percent of the annual operating budget. The government promised an annual subvention for 2025 but has not remitted it; that money had been spent in April. Salandy‑Brown also criticises the National Lotteries Control Board for lacking an accessible policy or application process and describes its small, widely distributed grants as "salami slices." She highlights the full VAT on non‑academic books and Customs and Excise’s difficulty defining those books, and hopes the present government will remove the tax. She calls for a jointly funded Arts Council created by an Act of Parliament, with an index‑linked budget and strict rules to prevent nepotism.

• Current sponsors include One Caribbean Media
• First Citizens
• Two small long‑term sponsors
• Other corporate donors