Datebook (July/August 2000)

Here's news on the main events in July and August

JULY

Jolly Harbour Yacht Club Race, Antigua and Barbuda (1st-3rd)

Race from Antigua to sister isle Barbuda, overnighting at Spanish Point on Saturday and Sunday, before racing back to Jolly Harbour on Monday

Jamaica Family Day, Jamaica (1st-3rd)
A weekend of cultural presentations, sporting activities, rafting and beach cook-ups at Montego Bay

Venezuela Independence Yacht Race, Grenada (2nd)
The race ends at the Grenada Yacht Club

Caricom Day, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua (3rd)

Celebrates the region’s commitment to forging stronger links among all the members of the Caribbean Community. Public holiday in Antigua

Holy Family Catholic Parish Bazaar and Food Fair, Antigua (3rd)

Megamarket 2000 – A Forum for Women-owned and Operated Businesses, Trinidad (6th- 7th)

A trade show mounted by Caribbean women entrepreneurs to showcase their work and encourage networking with global women’s communities, Chaguaramas Convention Centre

Barbados Secondary Schools International Soccer Tournament, Barbados (7th-15th)
Inter-school and inter-island football tournament

Caribbean Junior Golf Championships, Jamaica (9th-14th)

At least 10 countries in the region will vie for the Hank James Challenge Trophy at the Constance Spring Golf Club. Categories for individuals, including champion girls and boys under 12, 13-15 and 16-18

Tobago Heritage Festival (14th- August 1)

A celebration of folk customs and Tobago traditions (see Highlights)

Crop Over, Barbados (15th- August 7th)

Barbados’s annual festival celebrates the end of the sugarcane harvest for the year. Weeks of events lead up to the grand finale, Kadooment Day (see Highlights)

LaSource Yacht Race, Grenada (16th)

The race begins at St George’s and ends at LaSource, Pt Salines. Beach parties and gala luncheon at the LaSource resort, sponsors of the race

St Lucia Carnival (17th-18th)
Events include Dennery J’Ouvert celebrations, Carnival Queen Show, Gros Islet Junior Carnival, Calypso Clash between St Lucia and Dominica, Vieux Fort T-shirt mas’ and the climax: Parade of the Bands on the streets

Carnivals of the Caribbean Exhibition, Antigua (17th-August 31st)

A photographic and illustrative exhibition, Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, St John’s

UWI Golf Classic, Jamaica (22nd)

One-day golf tournament organised by the Jamaica Golf Association and the University of the West Indies, to raise scholarship funds for deserving students in the region

Mello Go Roun’, Jamaica (23rd- August 3rd)

National prize-winners in the Independence Festival go “on tour” to Mandeville (23rd), Montego Bay (1st) and Kingston (3rd)

National Dance Theatre Company’s Season of Dance, Jamaica (28th-August 27th)

Jamaica’s internationally acclaimed dance company will perform in all genres during this month-long season. The NDTC singers, who have become an integral part of the troupe, will also perform

Gran Market/ August Fair, Jamaica (28th-August 31st)

Displays of indigenous craft, as well as a food festival at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, St Andrew

Heineken Startime  Ska Mania, Jamaica (29th)

A celebration of Jamaica’s top vintage performers at the Countryside Club, St Andrew

Jamaica Spice Food Festival, Jamaica (29th)

The best of Jamaica’s cuisine, from traditional to contemporary, plus art, craft, music and literature at the UDC Park in Ocho Rios

Reggae Sumfest, Jamaica (30th-August 5th)
The biggest annual reggae music festival, featuring local and international reggae stars, St Catherine Hall, Montego Bay

35th Annual Carriacou Regatta, Grenada (30th-August 8th)

Carriacou’s biggest yachting event features street partying with live music

Antigua Carnival (30th-August 8th)

The Antigua Recreation Ground will be transformed into Carnival City. Events include junior Carnival: Queen of Carnival; steelband competition; Calypso Monarch and King and Queen of the Bands, culminating in Carnival Monday and Tuesday street parades, and the traditional “last lap” around the capital, St John’s

AUGUST

Emancipation Day, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago (1st)

Public holiday in remembrance of the abolition of slavery. Several events lead up to the day in Trinidad and Tobago (see Highlights)

Rainbow City Festival, Grenada (6th-9th)

The parish of Grenville displays local art and craft, as well as other products, alongside music, street-dancing and cultural performances – a carnival within the Carnival

Grenada Carnival (11th-15th)

Grenada’s Carnival begins on the 11th, and features soca stars, calypso competitions, King and Queen of the Bands and street parades on the 14th and 15th

Stage to Stage 2000, St Vincent and the Grenadines (5th, 12th, 19th)
Community outreach programme to retain cultural links with the past through entertainment

Jamalca Independence Day Parade, Jamaica (6th)

August Monday, Dominica/Grand Kadooment Day, Barbados /Emancipation Day, St Lucia (7th)
A public holiday in these islands

CARIFESTA, St Kitts and Nevis (17th-26th)
St Kitts and Nevis will host the seventh Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) (see Highlights)

Banks Hockey Festival, Barbados (19th-26th)

Shell Wonderful World of Golf, Jamaica (26th- 28th)
Top golfers tee off at the Tryall Golf Course in Montego Bay. Delayed broadcast on ESPN

Santa Rosa de Arima Festival, Trinidad (27th)
The festival honours the few remaining Caribs in the community, and features Carib craft and culinary treats. The day starts with a church service and street procession

Independence Day, Trinidad and Tobago (31st)
Public holiday

SEASONAL HIGHLIGHTS

CROP OVER

Barbados’s big festival weaves the traditional “harvest” of the sugar-cane into a Carnival celebration. The events of Crop Over 2000 take place between July 15 and August 7 at several venues throughout Barbados, with the heart being the capital, Bridgetown. The opening gala will be held at the National Stadium (Festival Arena), where four stages are set up to show European, Latin American, Far Eastern and African influences in Barbados. From July 15, Crop Over Sweet Limes offer a food court, art and craft gallery as well as nightly entertainment, at the Festival Village on Spring Garden Highway.

Folk Fest 2000 at Tyrol Cot opens on July 26. The theme for this year is the “The Story of Folk”, featuring the elements of folklore, voice, drum, story and movement. This festival will also compare Bajan folklore with that of other Caribbean islands.

On July 28, the Festival Arena will be the venue of both the Annual Caribbean Picong Festival and Pic-O-De-Crop semifinals. For the kids, Junior Kadooment Day and Calypso Monarch will be held at the Festival Arena on July 29. The Party Monarch Competition will be held on Sunday July 30 at East Coast Road. Grand Kadooment Day, on August 7, is the climax, with high-spirited street parades featuring costumed revellers and live and DJ music, on the Spring Garden Highway

EMANCIPATION

Trinidad and Tobago observes a public holiday on August 1, and a week of events to mark the emancipation of African slaves in 1834. From July 27, an International Market and Trade Exposition are the central point of emancipation celebrations at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Village at the Queen’s Park Savannah. At dawn on August 1, the city of Port of Spain will be met with festivities unlike any other in the islands: thousands of people, resplendent in African regalia, marching, clapping, shouting praises, chanting and dancing to the beat of African drums. Celebrations end with a flambeau-led procession to the All Stars panyard, which was the scene of violent suppression in the 1880s. Some of the events taking place at the Village:

July 27: Formal launch of International Market and Trade Exposition, Market Place, 7 p.m.
July 28: Formal opening of the Lidj Yasu Omowale Village, Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, 7 p.m.
July 29: Seminars, Club House, 10 a.m.; children’s workshop at the Grand Stand, 10 a.m.; formal opening of art exhibition at the Club House, 6 p.m.; calypso at the Grand Stand, 8 p.m.
July 30: Millennium Pan Concert, Market Place
July 31: Children’s Workshops and adults’ seminars at the Grand Stand and Club House, 10 p.m. Rhythms of the People at the Market Place and a Caribbean/ International Concert at the Grand Stand, 2 p.m.
August 1 : Emancipation Day street procession starts 9 a.m. from the Brian Lara Promenade to the Lidj Yasu Omawale Village. Cultural programmes, 12 noon to 6 p.m., followed by a guest lecture at the Grand Stand. Flambeau Procession, from 8:30 p.m.
August 2: ESC/CFA forum on Africa and the Diaspora, Central Bank Auditorium, 7 p.m.

CARIFESTA VII

The twin-island federation of St Kitts and Nevis plans to host the biggest and most prestigious event in the Caribbean arts calendar this year from August 17-26. Some of the cultural events taking place are a regional Grand Market for Caribbean foods and craft and a kids’ zone featuring traditional island games and pastimes. Special attention will be paid to teenagers who will be encouraged to voice their opinions at rap sessions and performances. A festival for the performing arts will continue for the entire 10 days and will feature the region’s best artists in theatre, dance, oral traditions and the folk arts. The festival will also feature works by renewed film-makers from the Caribbean and Latin America, and ‘a book fair will display the region’s literary works. Other events will include a five-day symposium on Caribbean Arts and Culture and a special tribute to our indigenous peoples. Community festivals will take place in both islands for visitors interested in viewing local traditions. During the festival, music enthusiasts will be treated to the best music performers in zouk, calypso, soca, Latin, reggae, jazz
and gospel, at three concerts. A J’Ouvert celebration and a grand parade will be staged in Basseterre, the capital.

For more information, contact the Carifesta Secretariat at tel./fax (869) 465-1999 or e-mail carifest@caribsurf.com

TOBAGO HERITAGE FESTIVAL

A festival that celebrates Tobago’s folk traditions and pays tribute to its mainly African heritage, influenced by Europe and the indigenous Amerindian culture. It is held annually for two weeks, from mid-July. Villages come alive with song, dance and verse in the oral tradition. Some of the villages that visitors will be inspired to visit are Patience Hill for its “festival of dance”, Delaford where there’s good Yabba, a “onepot” traditional dish, Golden Lane which will teach you all you need to know about “courtship codes”, and Moriah which will resound not with church bells, but with the fiddle and tambrin, as couples tie the knot the old-fashioned way in a true Tobago Wedding. Black Rock celebrates the fishing community by hosting a Sea Festival and boat christening, while Les Coteaux remembers Tobago’s folklore in a rich and witty presentation of Folktales and Superstitions.

Funding provided by the 11th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme Direct Support Grants Programme.
The views expressed on this website are those of the the authors and do not reflect those of the Direct Support Grants Programme.

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