Thousands of music fans, supporters and the public turn up at Bodo Field to witness the grand final of this first ever climate change music awareness competition.
Eight bands who qualified from the semi-final rounds last Saturday – the Big Dum, Kolaridge Boys, Forest Voice Singers, Scripture Union, Mewan, Fishing Heights, The CLI-Mates and the Alas Band, took part in the final.
Despite the challenges and difficulties in deciding on the best band, the judges concluded that the Big Dum Reggae Band were the best of the competition.
They walked away with the first prize of $10,000 cash with their song, “Climate Change Fighter”.
Kolaridge Boys Rock Band and the Forest Voice Singers Gospel group settled for the second and third spots with cash prizes of $9,000 and $ 8,000 respectively.
All participating bands were issued with certificates of appreciation.
The public learnt a lot from the event since it was initiated purposely by Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for awareness raising regarding the issue of climate change.
Those who turned up to watch the shows learned new information on how to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of effects of climate
By Patrick F. Kekete
Youth Environment Programme