Opinion: Who Will Save us from Ourselves and Save St. Patrick’s Festival?

by Kulcha Don

This year, 2025 was my first real experience of the St. Patrick’s Day Festival post Covid.

As a former Committee member (marketing director) and a Montserratian I am claiming my right to write and publish this report based on my observations.

Readers please bear with me through my precursor before the conclusion of my observations and incomplete details as I need not be long.
I have removed myself from the everyday happenings on social media for nearly three years now but what I am witnessing hits too hard to something that is so near and dear to my heart for me to remain silent or turn a blind eye.

– As a nation we had Jim Allen and did not know we had the greatest batsman in the West Indies while Antigua boasted on their Vivian Richards.
– We gave birth to LIAT Airlines and did not know we had the largest and longest serving airline in the Caribbean, lost it to Barbados.
– We were given Arrow and knew not that we had our own Bob Marley of Soca.
– Long before social media, we had Radio Antilles and Gem FM and did not know we had the two biggest social platforms throughout the entire Caribbean.
– At a very expensive cost 30 years ago we inherited a volcano and to this day we still do not know we have the greatest attraction in our hemisphere and the envy of all other tourist and cruise destinations.

In using the examples above I cannot help but be reminded of Mathew 25 in the bible where the servant who was given one talent lost it to his counterpart because he did not know how to use it. This I am afraid we were, we are and we will continue to be if someone does not save us from ourselves.

The St Patrick’s Day Festival was established around some 50 years ago by the young people of the South of the island, ironically the village of St. Patricks. The village enjoyed being the sole beneficiary of this one day event for many years until the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano. For over 10 years the island and governments struggled with different ideas of how to proceed and preserve this historical celebration.

In 2011 with the emergence of social media and a few enthusiasts, the festival got the spark it long needed and well deserved. Recognized by a few intelligent people who made up the then Committee, led by the hardest working organizer and planner I have known, the late great Justin “Hero” Cassell, the potential of the Festival was realized.

In 2014 on my return to the island, the Committee was expanded and restructured with a Chairman, A Treasurer a Marketing Director and some other passionate hard working members with the great Justin Hero still at the helm.

The new Committee drafted a more modern concept of the Festival with three motivational factors being the backbone:

1. The what
– A 1 week Festival 10 – 17 March held mainly in the South of the island celebrating the courage and bravery of our ancestors who attempted a revolution in 1768 to free themselves from the slavery and oppression of their Irish masters. Resulting in the hanging of Kujoe/Cudjoe the leader plus nine of his followers and the deportation/ expulsion of 35 others to St. Kitts & Nevis. [Editor’s note: According to historian Sir Howard Fergus, Cudjoe died long before this event. While there were many Cudjoe’s through history, the leader of this rebellion was not the slave who was hung at Cudjoe Head in the Silk Cotton Tree.]

2. The who
– An all-inclusive celebration of our African/Irish/Montserratian heritage exhibiting the diverse cultures which made Montserrat unique to every other island in the Caribbean with an impressive closing featuring a massive parade with other culture groups from all parts of the world and a Slave Feast mimicking the huts and exotic dishes our ancestors enjoyed coupled with a display of cultural performances.

3. The why
– To tell our unique story to the world by having thousands of people from all walks of life come to our shores during this period resulting in a well needed economic boost that benefits ALL businesses on the island.

What I’ve been noticing post-covid and I have witnessed this year 2025, is that we have moved away almost entirely from these three motivational factors which brought record numbers of visitors near 5,000 spending over 6.5 million dollars in the last two years before covid and is now becoming a party destination attracting only one demographic of people, the young and sleepless lol.

As a former promoter, I endorse and commend full heartedly the efforts of all private promoters, as this was one of the tools established to assist in the marketing and promotions of the festival. Let me take this moment to shout out the Junior Calypso Show.

However, what I will never subscribe to is the blatant disrespect and disregard for the overall BUSINESS community. The SPIRIT of the festival with limited paraphernalia to symbolize the week of activities, lights, flags, banners etc. from airport to seaport to Salem. The ARTS- thanks to Bianca Chambers and Matrix for their magnificent display of dance and theatre. The CRAFTS. The inclusion of the IRISH role and influence, The CULTURE Parade. The SLAVE FEAST and the unwillingness to pay homage to our ANCESTORS and NATIONAL HEROES.

Instead what we have is an organization relying solely on private promoters importing foreign acts with a start time of 2am to carry the responsibility of such a Historical National Event.

This leads me to ask a few questions –
Is it total IGNORANCE, COMPLACANCY or a complete LACK OF KNOWLEDGE?

Is it POOR LEADERSHIP plugging square pegs into round holes?

Or is it downright LAZINESS unwilling to work hard and failing to plan?

My Prediction – One more mediocre celebration of our St Patrick’s Day Festival and our history is bound to repeat itself where like Jim Allen, Like LIAT, like Arrow, like Radio Antilles and Gem, like the Volcano we will be reminiscing on when Montserrat’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival was the greatest Festival destination on Earth and DID NOT KNOW.

Kulcha Don is an entrepreneur and artist. He was also a former member of the St. Patrick’s Festival Committee