SALEM – There are no figures yet on the numbers who came home for St. Patrick’s Festival but clearly many Montserratians and visitors alike chose to spend this Irish holiday on Montserrat.
The Slave Feast is the final official event for the eight-day festival which began on March 10, 2015. Hundreds lined the street to see the parade of children and adult groups dressed in cultural wear and going a little bit more Irish for the day.
There were performances by the new Junior Calypso Monarch Keon “Dragon K” Christopher and runner-up Thasia “Sugar T” Stephenson, and the MSS band Re-Beat. There were dance numbers which featured Spanish, Dominican and Irish music. Having both the lady masqueraders and the Emerald Shamiole Masquerade troupes provided twice as much music and dance to enjoy. The presence the Iron Band from Antigua with their infectious sound kept the parade moving through the street and into the village with ease.
The slave village made out of coconut fronds was bustling with local groups selling traditional fare such as goat water and duckna with saltfish, bread pudding, sugar cake, barbecue chicken and much more. The addition of an arts and craft section provided several local artists to display their works which ranged from ties made out of the national madras fabric to Calabash bowls and jewellery shaped like Montserrat. The artisans included Shan Murrell of Little Island Designs and Kirk Brade of KCK Unlimited
A popular area in the art tent was the face painting section, where students stood in line to have stars and other delights added to their face. Artist and calypsonian Kelvin “Tabu” Duberry set up an art gallery on the side of an old building to display some of his latest water colours. He also offered T-shirts which were air-brushed on the spot to client’s requests.
Here a few photos from the day and go to our Facebook page at www.facebooks.com/discovermni to see more great photos from the festival.
