Art culture was enriched and Caribbean relations were strengthened after Bermuda's participation in the Carifesta.

That is the assessment of Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister.

A 40-person delegation represented Bermuda at the ten-day cultural festival in St. Kitts and Nevis this summer, including the Minister of Development and Opportunity, Dr. Eva Hodgson and Cultural Affairs officer Heather Whalen.

Bermuda's cultural and art groups were very successful and heralded by other countries who attended the festival.

"I was enormously proud of the achievements of those who went.'' Mr. Lister said.

The Bermuda Dance Company was invited to perform in Trinidad this December, one Carifesta participant saying the group was the "highlight of Carifesta''.

And the Warner Gombey Group was so impressive the hotel where the delegation was staying asked the Gombey Group to perform for the hotel guests.

The entire trip cost $80,000 -- "not the six-figure bandied about by some of our detractors,'' said Mr. Lister. He jokingly said: "We should have charged the hotel (for the Gombey performance).'' Mr. Lister maintained that the chartered flight kept costs low.

He said the ticket cost per person was less than a commercial flight and it was hard to get a commercial flight to the Caribbean without an overnight stay waiting for connections -- so the group missed the unnecessary expense of staying in a US hotel. "I think we have done a great deal to strengthen our links with the people of the Caribbean.'' Mr. Lister said that many in the Caribbean felt Bermudians were "snobbish people from that rich little island up there''.

"Let us not be under the impression that we are better than them in every way. That's foolish.'' Historical and family ties with the Caribbean should not be hidden away or ignored, he said. There will not be much economic benefit from the trip but the Minister insists that the artists, chefs and performers have brought back experiences that will strengthen Bermuda's culture and that was what the festival was for.