St Vincent and the Grenadines / Special Interests / Culture & Heritage

While sharing much of its culture and history with other English-speaking Caribbean islands, St Vincent and the Grenadines have a slightly different flavour. In common with most other islands in the region, the first settlers were Amerindians, but the sinking of a Dutch ship off St Vincent meant that its cargo of West African slaves were able to escape ashore. They merged with the Amerindian population, creating a new ethnic group called the Black Caribs or Garifuna, but with the arrival of European colonists – first French, then British – 5,000 of them were sent into exile. The onset of plantations growing everything from coffee to cotton saw the importation of slave labour and many of their descendants live on the islands today, along with descendants of St Vincent’s Carib population.

British customs remain, flavoured with some Gallic touches left by the islands’ early French rulers, but despite recent development St Vincent still retains an undiscovered air – for the moment – and a different ambience to its sister islands in the Grenadines. These have their own distinct characters. For instance, Mustique attracts the jetset to its huge collection of opulent villas while Bequia has long been a popular hangout for artists and sailors, with a history of boat-building and a unique local art scene in miniature boats. Union Island is a popular haunt for yachtsmen while the Tobago Cays are an uninhabited haven known for their beautiful waters. As you might expect, there is not a lot of visible history on the Grenadines, aside from a few old forts and smattering of colonial buildings, but the West Indian love of music is obvious and most evident during the 10-day Vincy Mas carnival celebrations every summer.