August Festival, the BVI’s Great Annual Celebration is Here!
BVI August Festival Gets Underway
BVI August Festival gets underway with razzle dazzle and excitement. From the opening of Festival Village in Road Town on July 27, to its conclusion on August 9th with the Carrot Bay Cultural Fiesta, the event spans multiple events and activities.
The Lead Up
First there were the triangular flags overhead, fluttering like colorful birds on a telephone wire. Then, there was the hammering at the Festival Grounds in Road Town as the “Village” was erected. Wooden shacks took shape in an array of blues, yellows and orange.
The central stage with its scaffolding, rafts of lights and massive speakers was erected. The Village filled with food drink and milling throngs is the epicenter of Festival, and the focus of nightly musical acts from the calypso and reggae to soca and fungi.
Pageants like the Miss BVI Contest, the Prince and Princess Pageant and Mr. & Miss Junior BVI add glamor to the proceedings. The Kiddie Fiesta and carnival rides and games ensure that the young have as much fun as the adults.
BVI Festival Village Opens
The official kickoff to Festival is the Opening of Festival Village is Monday on July 27th. This year the Village is named in honor of Lavida Cottoy.
The festivities major highlight is the Grand Parade held on the first Monday in August (this year on the 3rd). An extravaganza of colorful costumes from feathered Indians, baton twirling majorettes, and gyrating and be-sequined dancers, the parade is a favorite of young and old. There are booming bands transported on tractor trailer trucks, and lavishly decorated floats. Nightly musical concerts and contests are held at Festival Village nightly. East End/Long Look also gets into the act with their own mini festival that includes a parade and a Heritage Village among many other events and activities.
Cultural Events
Importantly, there is a cultural dimension to Festival. The event celebrates the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1834, an event once celebrated with picnics, horseraces and family games. Today the occasion is reenacted with a procession culminating in the reading of the Proclamation at the Sunday Morning Well in Road Town.
Other cultural activities include the Food Fair held at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park on Friday, July 31. Booths of great local food from peas and rice to roti will be on hand, there will be traditional fungi (scratch band) music and steel pan as well as Plait Pole, Mocko Jumbies and the renowned Heritage Dancers.
The Carrot Bay Fiesta continues this tradition of family fun and old-time activities from tug of war, egg and spoon races and hilarious donkey races. It is a fitting finale to weeks of BVI style celebration!
With tramps, processions, pageants and parades, plus a tireless array of colorful side events, the BVI Emancipation Festival is a once-a-year extravaganza.
Additional activities here in the BVI can be found at
https://thebviinsider.com/activities-best-things-to-do-in-the-bvi/
for more information on BVI heritage go to
The BVI Touris Board can provide additional information on the British Virgin Islands at
bvitourism.com
