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35th Anguilla Summer Festival, 26 July to 09 August 2009
This year’s festival slogan is ‘Unite and Fete It’s Culture Time’ and they will certainly do that – to ‘fete’ is to party hard and have a huge amount of fun! The Anguilla Summer Festival is a mix of carnival and boating activities which opens with a firework display at the end of July. The ten day event brings together the whole community and is something enjoyed by both the young and old, with something there for everyone. The main carnival activities are held at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Center in The Valley, where an open-air stage is set up. On the boating side, the main races are held at Sandy Ground and Meads Bay, and thousands of spectators turn up with their picnics to chill out on the beach or watch from their own boats. As at all Caribbean carnivals there are colourful costumed bands, a beauty pageant, calypso competitions, the traditional J’Ouvert (an early morning street parade) and the grand parade of troupes, in which bands of costumed revellers take to the streets.
The programme of events for this year are currently as follows and may be subject to change, therefore please check locally for updates:
Sun 26 Jul - Miss Anguilla Swim Suit & Costume Competition, 6pm at Landsome Bowl. Thu 30 Jul - Official Opening & Fireworks Display, 7pm at Landsome Bowl. Fri 31 Jul - Soca Classic IV, 8.30pm at Landsome Bowl. Sat 01 Aug - Band Clash, 9pm at Landsome Bowl. Sun 02 Aug- Heineken Warm-Up Boat Race, 2pm at Sandy Ground. Prince & Princess Show, 6pm, and Junior Calypso Show, 7pm, both at Landsome Bowl. Mon 03 Aug - J’ouvert Morning Sunrise Street Jam, 4am, from The Valley to Sandy Ground. August Monday Boatrace at 3pm and Caribbean Beach Party at 6pm, both at Sandy Ground. Tue 04 Aug - Island Harbour Boat Race, 3pm at Island Harbour. CCB Talented Teen, 8pm at Landsome Bowl. Wed 05 Aug - Sandy Ground Boat Race, 3pm at Sandy Ground. Calypso Monarch, 8pm at Landsome Bowl. Thu 06 Aug – August Thursday Boat Race, 3pm at Meads Bay. Miss Anguilla Queens Pageant, 8pm at Landsome Bowl. Fri 07 Aug - Parade of Troupes from 12pm The Valley streets. Sat 08 Aug - Sunrise Street Jam from 4am The Valley streets. Leeward Island Calypso Competition, 9pm at Landsome Bowl. Sun 09 Aug - Champion of Champions Boat Race, 3pm at Sandy Ground.
For more details and updates please see the Anguilla Summer Festival website www.axasummerfestival.com .
If you are going to be in Anguilla for their Summer Festival, you might like to note that there is an island-wide restaurant promotion called Prix Fixe Summer. This allows visitors to Anguilla the chance to enjoy special three-course tasting menus at some of the island’s best restaurants. Prix Fixe Summer is running from 01 June to 31 August 2009 and includes set meals for US$35, $45 and $55 per person (excludes drinks, tips and taxes) at a host of establishments. For instance for US$45 you can dine at the acclaimed Blanchard’s Restaurant, US$55 at Spice or Pimms restaurants at Cap Juluca or US$35 at Roy’s Bayside Grill. Please see www.anguilla-vacation.com for more details.
For more things to do and see on Anguilla, please see the complete 2009 Calendar of Events in our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Anguilla.
52nd Antigua Carnival Celebrations, St John's, 25 July to 04 August 2009
The Antigua carnival brings an amazing burst of energy and colour to the streets of St John’s each summer. It follows a familiar schedule to other Caribbean carnivals, but where many of those are held at the traditional time of Mardi Gras at the start of Lent, Carnival in Antigua is held in honour of the emancipation of slaves that took place on 1st August 1838. The centrepiece is Carnival City, which is set up in the Antigua Recreation Ground (the old test cricket stadium) in St John’s, where you can see the various shows and competitions run up to the main parades in August. There is also a carnival village, which has everything from bars, barbecues and gaming stalls. It is well worth attending if you happen to be on island when it is taking place. You can join in any of the sound systems, and even join in the costumed parades buy purchasing a costume in one of the bands – though you do need to book costumes in the more popular bands early in the year.
The main events for this year are as follows:
Sat 25 Jul - launch and opening parade. Sun 26 Jul – Children’s Carnival. Mon 27 Jul - Queen of Carnival. Tue 28 Jul - Teen Splash. Wed 29 Jul – Caribbean Melting Pot, a cultural event. Thu 30 Jul – National Panorama, steel pan competition. Fri 31 Jul – Caribbean Queen Show. Sat 01 Aug - Party Monarch Finals. Sun 02 Aug - Calypso Monarch Finals. Mon 03 Aug - Carnival Monday, J’ouvert (jump-up) with judging of parade troupes. Tue 04 Aug - Carnival Tuesday, Last Lap with parade of bands, troupes and announcement of winners.
For more things to do and see on Antigua, please see the complete 2009 Calendar of Events in our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Antigua.
Crop Over Festival and Grand Kadooment, St Michael, Barbados, 4 July to 3 August 2009
Crop Over is a truly local event, which marks the end of the sugarcane season in Barbados, with the Ceremonial Delivery of the Last Canes (28 June 2009) and the crowning of the King and Queen of the Crop. Over the weeks that follow there are steel band and other concerts such as Pan in De City, Back in Time Pan, Pan Pun De Sand (on the beach) Soca on De Hill and a folk concert as well as various calypso 'tents' or shows for calypsonians competing in the run up to the Pic-O-De-Crop and Party Monarch Calypso competitions. On the last Saturday of the festival is the Foreday Morning Jump Up, which is similar to J'ouvert at other carnivals. It is an early morning street party which starts in Bridgetown and heads along Spring Garden Highway, in which party goers smear themselves in paint and oil. The following day is Cohobblopot, during which two events are held at the National Stadium. The Queen and Monarch of the costumed bands parade and compete for prizes and then there are the finals of the Calypso Contest. It all culminates on the first Monday in August with a colourful parade of carnival bands known as the Grand Kadooment. This is a spectacular, soca-driven street procession that leads from the National Stadium to Spring Garden Highway. Huge sound systems on trucks pump out the calypso hits of the year to throngs of revellers who "jump-up" and "wind-up", whilst downing gallons of beer and rum.
Membership of the carnival bands is not restricted to locals and if you fancy joining a band and dancing along with them or would like more information on the festival please see www.cropoverfestival.com or www.barbadoscropoverfestival.com.
The main events for this year's Crop Over Festival include: 04 July, Heritage Gala at 2.30pm, Queen's Park in Bridgetown; 09 July, Junior Monarch Concert at 12pm, Frank Collymore Hall in Central Bank, Bridgetown, where there is also a Crop Over Visual Arts Exhibition from 7pm in the Grande Salle of Central Bank; 11 July, Junior Monarch Finals at 7pm, Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Wildey; 12 July, Pan in De Future Tense from 7pm at the Barbados Museum, Garrison Savannah; 16 July, Back in Time Pan from 7pm at Dover Beach; 18 July, Junior Kadooment from 9am, the National Stadium and Pan in De City at 7pm from Jubilee Gardens to Independence Square, Bridgetown; 19 July, Soca on De Hill (tba) at Farley Hill Park, St Peter and Pan Pun De Sand from 3pm at Brandon's Beach near Bridgetown; 25 July, Pic-O-De-Crop Semi-Finals from 2pm and 26 July, Party Monarch Finals & Sweet Ragga Soca competion from 12pm, all at Farley Hill Park; 31 July, Pic-O-De-Crop Finals from 7pm at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown; 01 & 02 August, Bridgetown Market 9am-10pm, Spring Garden Highway; 01 August, Foreday Morning from 2am, from Carlisle Car Park (heliport) to Spring Garden Highway, Float Parade from 4pm at Spring Garden Highway plus the Crop Over Steel Band Finals from 7pm; 02 Aug, Cohobblopot from 8pm at Kensington Oval; 03 Aug, Grand Kadooment Day from 9am starting from the National Stadium to Spring Garden Highway. Please note information correct at time of publication and may be subject to change, therefore check locally for updates.
For more things to do and see on Barbados, please see the complete 2009 Calendar of Events in our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Barbados.
While visiting Barbados this year you can take advantage of savings to be had by registering for the following cards. The Barbados Gourmet Card is part of the Barbados Tourism Authority’s emphasis on food and drink for this year, with the theme Barbados Year of the Gourmet. Card holders can enjoy a 25% discount at participating restaurants until 14 December 2009. For more details and to register please go to www.barbadosgourmetcard.com The Barbados VIP Card offers savings on selected tours and activities by giving one free place for each paying adult (max 2 free) and is available for UK/European residents only for visits up to 14 December 2009. Please see www.barbadosvipcard.com for more details and to register.
Breadfruit Festival, Sharpes Park, Kingstown, St Vincent, 01-31 August 2009
This intriguing festival is a fairly recent addition to the island’s annual Emancipation Month in August, which sees a range of activities and exhibitions commemorating the abolition of slavery. The Breadfruit Festival takes place every weekend during the month and it is a fitting food festival for the island because St Vincent is one of the islands to which the breadfruit (actually a vegetable) was introduced by Captain Bligh. He arrived with seedlings to plant as cheap source of food to feed slaves.
The breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) grows on trees and makes for a rather odd sight. The trees can grow to quite a size and are handsome looking with large, glossy lobed leaves (similar to fig, which belongs to the same moraceae family) that make for a dramatic backdrop to the fruit. The tree produces both male and female flowers and it is the female that evolves into a heavy, ball or oval-shaped fruit (about 7 inches in diameter) with a rough green rind. This surface is patterned with small hexagons (some 4-5 sided), each with a thorn or raised spot in the centre. As the fruit ripens the rind starts to weep a white, milky, latex-type substance and the skin discolours – becoming anything from yellow to light brown. Leave them for too long and the entire fruit goes soft and makes quite a mess when it eventually falls to the ground. Inside a perfectly ripened fruit, the flesh is cream coloured and of an unusual texture which has a central pithy core which is discarded. Once cooked - there are numerous ways to do this – breadfruit has the taste of a mildly nutty, slightly sweet and creamy potato with a dense, waxy quality due to the amount of starch it contains. It is widely used throughout the Caribbean in a range of dishes and as a plant even has medicinal qualities.
The Breadfruit Festival takes place in communities throughout the island, including the west coast village of Chateaubelair, a popular anchorage for yachts. Admission to the events is free and a variety of dishes made from breadfruit are exhibited, with locals and visitors being encouraged to support the farmers and to eat local. Some of the dishes you might come across are breadfruit cheese pie, breadfruit puff, breadfruit pizza, breadfruit lasagne, breadfruit breadsticks, breadfruit chips, breadfruit quiche, sweet and sour candy (using the male blossom which looks like a blunt spike) and various breadfruit drinks. Local cultural also plays a part in the festival, so there is also dancing, drumming and there are performances by calypsonians. During the Breadfruit Festival hoteliers and restaurateurs are also encouraged feature the breadfruit on their menus.
St Vincent can actually boast over 25 different varieties of breadfruit and the fruit forms part of the country’s national dish of roasted breadfruit and fried jack fish. The local breadfruit species have some wonderful names, including Creole, Cocobread, Kashee, Sally Young, White, Butterheart, Hope Marble, Liberal, Waterloo, Soursop, Dessert, Old Wind, Captain Bligh, Floaters and Hogpen. For more information on how the breadfruit made it to St Vincent all the way from the South Pacific, please see this issue’s Quirky Caribbean for the story on ‘Plant Hunters and The Bounty’.
For more things to do and see on St Vincent, please see the complete 2009 Calendar of Events in our Definitive Caribbean Guide to St Vincent & The Grenadines.
Breadfruit Festival, Bath, St Thomas, Jamaica, 29 August 2009
This annual cultural food event celebrates the planting of the first breadfruit trees in Jamaica. This took place in 1793, thanks to the sterling efforts of Captain Bligh. It is said that some of the original trees can still be found in the Bath Botanical Gardens. A highlight of the festivities is the colourful re-enactment parade of the historic planting, with drummers and dancers. Throughout the afternoon and into the evening there is music, dancing, poetry, cooking competitions and of course, eating and drinking. Breadfruit is a food staple throughout the Caribbean, and it has many culinary uses besides being just a vegetable (as mentioned above for St Vincent). It can also be turned into flour to make bread, cakes or puddings, even into wine. In Jamaica roasted breadfruit is a popular accompaniment to jerk foods. The whole fruit is roasted in the hot coals in the jerk pits and served in thick slices.
For more information on how the breadfruit made it to St Vincent all the way from the South Pacific, please see this issue’s Quirky Caribbean for the story on ‘Plant Hunters and The Bounty’.
For more things to do and see on Jamaica, please see the complete 2009 Calendar of Events in our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Jamaica.
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