By RIEL MAJOR

A WEEK-LONG cultural festival is set for next month to honour the memory of Bahamian icon and politician Edmund Moxey.

Shanendon Cartwright, executive chairman of the Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority, said Moxey was a "cultural icon" who committed his life to the development of Bahamian culture.

"We are excited about what we have planned," Mr Cartwright said. "What we want during this week besides importantly honouring Edmund Moxey that is well deserved, we want to have a larger discussion about culture because that's what Edmund Moxey's life represented.

"This is the time for the Bahamian people and visitors to come and see…we're celebrating us and what it is to be Bahamian."

Deborah Moxey Rolle, the former politician's daughter, said: "When my father was elected to power with the Progressive Liberal Party in 1967, he came with a burning heart with the desire to empower the Bahamian people through social and economic and cultural development, so he envisioned that people power would take place if we all come together and if we celebrate who we are, hence his idea to start the Coconut Grove Festival just two years prior into his election to office.

"He thought it was very critical for us to concentrate on ourselves with the development of ourselves and to celebrate our heritage.

"He sacrificed his life to cast that vision so I'm glad that we're here to celebrate it and I would like this platform to be launched so that we can keep our cultural essence alive and remember who we are at all times."

The Edmund Moxey Cultural Week and the revival of the Coconut Grove Festival will take place November 11-17. The events will commence with a church service at First Baptist Church on November 11 at 3.30pm.

On November 12, at 7pm, there will be an exhibition opening at the Big Pond Park Conference Centre.

The University of The Bahamas will be hosting a panel discussion on November 13 at 7pm. The next day, November 14 at 7 pm, on Mother Pratt Park organisers will host a documentary screening. On November 15, at 6pm, a park renaming and cultural ceremony is planned.

The two-day Coconut Grove Festival will begin November 16 at 6pm at Big Pond Park, to be renamed Edmund Moxey Park.

Moxey, former Coconut Grove MP, died in 2014 at the age of 80.