Celebrate St. John
By Carol Bareuther, RD
The little island of St. John comes to extra special life in the weeks leading up to and including the Fourth of July. This is when the annual and highly-anticipated St. John Festival takes place.
"What sets our Festival apart from Carnival on other islands is the generosity of the people, a variety of different foods, local arts and crafts that you can't buy anywhere else, and the music," says St. John administrator, Leona Smith, who heads up the annual Food Fair and Queen Coronation events that are just a small part of Festival festivities.
Smith's mother, Jane Johannes, a native St. Johnian who organizes the Festival Village and Senior Variety Show, says she can remember the celebration's inception. "It started as a one-day festival, where we had food tables, drink, dancing and music. People came by boat, walked or rode donkeys; anyway they could from all the surrounding villages. I came with my mother. I was just a young woman at the time. We had a big coal pot set up behind the table and did all the cooking right there, frying the fish and johnnycakes."
Festival fun has now grown to nearly a month long. This year, the partying kicks-off on May 28th with Pan-ORama. This is a real treat for those who love to hear traditional steel pan music, an art form that started in Trinidad in the 1940's and takes its name from the steel oil drums originally used as 'instruments'.
Music is a theme and rhythm that flows right through the whole of Festival.
"We're known for our different varieties of music," says Smith. "We invite art-ists from Trinidad and Calypso monarchs from all the different islands to come play their road marches and favorite songs. There are two to three bands every night in the Festival Village, so the real fun is getting to go to a couple of free concerts every night for a week."
The Festival Village opens on June 29 at 7 p.m. and re-opens each night from 7 p.m. until midnight through July 3 and until 2 a.m. on July 5 as Festival revelry winds down in the wee hours.
The St. John Festival offers something for everyone. Parents and friends cheer for the beautiful young girls and women who showcase their smarts and talents vying for the titles of Festival Princess and Festival Queen. Sports-minded landlubbers pedal away in the Bike Race, while seafarers cast off on Boat Races in the Cruz Bay Harbor. Seniors love to show off different talents in the Senior Variety Show, while everyone enjoys hearing the tales of oldtime life on St. John during Cultural Day.
Two of the most popular and signature Festival events are Food Fair and the Parade and Fireworks.
"Johnny cakes, which seem to be everyone's favorite, as well as pates, conch in butter sauce, stewed whelks, fried fish, chicken, lobster salad and drinks such as maubi, passion fruit, and tamarind are all available at Food Fair," says Smith. "So are local crafts unique to St. John such as St. John baskets, carved calabash, shell earrings and palm baskets and hats."
On the Fourth of July, the celebration culminates with a parade that winds from Cruz Bay Park through town. This year, Parade Marshall Edna O'Conner- Freeman will lead the procession of stilt-walking Mocko Jumbies, steel pan bands, fancifully costumed troupes and decorated floats.
Lastly, as day turns to night, the Festival finale features a fireworks display over the Cruz Bay Harbor starting at 9 p.m. It's a sight that will forever live in your memory.
"St. Johnians are a close knit community and especially so at Festival time," says Johannes. "We're one big family - residents and visitors alike."
Please see below for the full St. John Festival schedule.
