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GUYANA FOLK FESTIVAL 2004
FAMILY FUN DAY
Our Villages and Communities Celebrating Our Folk Games
and Folk Toys Heritage
September 5, 2004
Old Boys and Girls High School Ground
Rutland Road (between Troy and Schenectady Avenues)
Brooklyn, New York
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this
year's Folk Festival Best Village/District/Street event is to celebrate
the creativity associated with Guyana's folk games and folk toys
heritage. The purpose is to encourage good, clean, and healthy fun and
solidarity. Points will be earned and the team with the most points
will be declared the winners. The best village/district/street team
will receive a lien on the grand trophy.
All
participating groups are expected to:
1. BRING TWO MECHANICAL TOYS:
(a) A cotton reel war tank for entry into the war tank
race - 25pts
(b) another hand made folk toy of their choice - 25pts;
plus,
(c) a decorated kite made by a father [or elder] and son team - 100pts;
and
(d) a bouquet of crepe paper flowers made by a mother and daughter team
- 75pts.
2.
DEMONSTRATE THE FOLLOWING GAMES:
(a) I am a Pretty Little Dutch Girl - 25pts
(b) Hula Hoops [2 per team.] - 25pts
(c) two examples of Skipping ( e.g. Double Dutch and Chinese Skipping) -
100pts
Each demonstration should not exceed more than 3
minutes.
3. BE READY TO COMPETE IN A SELECTION OF THE FOLLOWING:
JUMPING & THROWING GAMES:
Cush - 25pts
Marbles (GAM) - 25pts
Hopscotch - 25pts
Airy Dory - 25pts
(The rules for Airy Dory are provided below. As is
tradition, all teams must be able to count in Hindi during this game)
RING GAMES:
I Lost My Belt on a Saturday Night - 20pts
Jane & Louisa Will Soon Come Home - 20pts
Jumbie Lef He Pipe Hey - 20pts
London Bridge - 20 pts
TEAM/GROUP GAMES:
We Come to Mend the Water Works 20pts
Bun House 20pts
Ole Grady Says 20pts
Saul Pass 20pts
One-Tip-Two-Tip Cricket ..TEAM OF 11 120pts
Rounders 40pts
Sack Race 20pts
Lime & Spoon 20pts
Three-legged race 20pts
Wheel Barrow. 20pts
Bicycle Wheel/Roller 20pts
TUG-OF-WAR (TEAM OF 10) 150pts
4. PROVIDE
THREE PERSONS WHO WILL SERVE AS FIELD JUDGES - 25pts
(Teams will be awarded extra points for UNIFORM TEAM WEAR,
PUNCTUALITY &
PROFESSIONAL Decorum/Sportsmanship & Folk Spirit during
GAMES) - 150pts
Chief
Referee: Desmond T. Roberts
The Decision of the Chief Referee & 2 Judges appointed by
the Guyana Folk Festival will be FINAL.
REGISTRATION
All participating
home town/village/district/or street teams, will be expected to register
before the Festival. To register, please send an e-mail message or a
fax to Claire Goring at ClaireAGoring@aol.com or fax to Claire Goring at
718-209- 6157 with the following information by Wednesday, September 1,
2004.
1. Name of
village/district/street:
2. Name of team leader
3. Contact information for team leader:
4. List of team members and their contact information
5. Three nominees to serve as judges
RULES
The rules
for the games will be posted on the Guyana Folk Festival web site (http://www.guyfolkfest.org/). The
following sources will be used for preparing the rules: (a) George N.
Cave, “Sociolinguistics and Child Play in Guyana.” A paper presented at
the Conference of the Society for Caribbean
Linguistics, August 11-14, 1976 sponsored by the Linguistics Section,
Department of English, University of Guyana; and (b) Mickey Anderson. Hop
Scotch. Georgetown, Guyana, 1984.
AIRY DORY
The
rules for Airy Dory are based on description provided by Rampersaud
Tiwari (e-mail to Vibert Cambridge, August 7, 2004)
The game "AIRY DORY" was taken to Guyana by indentured immigrants
largely from the two colorful Awadhi and Bhojpuri speaking communities
in the northern Indian provinces of Bihar and the United Province.
Awadhi and Bhojpuri are folk dialects of the Hindi speaking people of
North India. The game, like Cricket and Kabadi has had its origin in the
distant past in ancient India and is recorded in the Epics.
The game was played with two pieces of stick - one short and the other,
long. The player placed the short stick over a small hole that was dug
in the turf or the ground of play. Then he placed the long stick that
was held firmly in both hands (like a Golf Club) in the hole under the
short stick. Then, after incanting "Airy Dory, Tilya Chowri, Zumpa, Zayg,
Sootal" the player would forcefully lift the short stick in the air, and
as it descended towards the player's calculated reach, he would strike
it as hard he was able to do to a distance far away from where he was
standing by the small hole. Then, he would pace towards the place where
the short stick had fallen; he would retrieve it and take it back to the
hole measuring its length on the turf as he proceeded to the hole while
counting as you have stated, in Hindi, - Ek, Do, Teen, Char, Panch,
Cchay, Saath, Aath, Nau, Das, and so on - one to 10 and so on. The
winning player would be the player who was able to strike the short
stick the longest distance away from the hole in the ground.
The game was played by Girls/Ladies as well.
Counting system in Hindi
The Roman Hindi for your numbers 1
to 25 are : Ek, Do, Teen, Chaar, Paanch, Chha, Saat, Aath, Nau, Das,
Gyaaraha, Baaraha, Teraha, Chaudaha, Pandraha, Solaha, Satraha,
Athaaraha, Unees, Bees, Ekis, Baais, Teis, Chaubis, Pachees. The
phonetic structure/expression may need some practice. The "h" in "ha" is
hard with the "a" being soft or silent. |
