Montserrat's festival celebrates

by Caribbean Net News

Montserrat still alive, Festival is 45!” That’s the slogan as Montserrat celebrates the 45th year of its year-end Festival. Other islands have Carnival, Montserrat has Festival, but Festival does have much in common with carnivals throughout the Caribbean, with that special Montserrat touch.

The official opening of Festival took place on Saturday December 8, with performances, speeches and fireworks at Festival Village. This was preceded by the Calypso Eliminations, where twenty-seven calypsonians competed and sixteen were chosen for the semi-finals.

Festival costumes

A host of events are packed into the period between early December and Christmas, and there is something for everyone. The high profile and popular Swimwear Competition takes place early in the Festival. It forms part of the Festival Queen Show, and is the first public appearance of the queen contestants.

There are two top-notch choral singing groups on the island, Voices and the Emerald Community Singers, and for many years each have staged stunning performances during the Festival, combining Christmas music, Caribbean folk music and more.

Then there is the Night of Pan, which promises to be exciting this year, with two new steelbands as well as the Volpanics and the Junior Steel Band, which have been trained for several years by Director of Culture Herman “Cupid” Francis. Two guest steelbands from the region are also expected to visit for the show.

There will be the St John’s Princess Show, put on by the newly formed St John’s Action Group group, the Soca Monarch competition, as well as several popular “street jams” or “jump ups”. Montserrat’s soca star, Arrow (famous for “Hot, hot, hot” and other internationally known songs), will also be performing in concert during the Festival.

One cannot talk about Festival without mentioning the traditional Masquerades, with their quaint, colourful costumes, tall head-dresses and masks, performing their traditional steps to the sound of fife and drum. The children’s group Emerald Shamioles is now the most active masquerade group on the island, and are expected to perform throughout the Festival, keeping the old tradition alive.

With all these carnival-type events Christmas is not forgotten, and most of the churches have special Christmas services, with some having midnight mass on Christmas eve. Then on Christmas night the annual open-air Carol Singing is always popular, featuring choirs and singing groups from all over the island, along with some carols for all to join in.

The excitement builds up between Christmas and New Year, as final preparations are made for the Calypso Finals and the Festival Queen Pageant, both high profile and popular events. There is intense debate about who will be chosen as Calypso Monarch, and the competition is keen as the ten finalists appear on stage, often with costumes and props, for the final version of their songs.

The Festival Queen contestants appear on stage in several segments of their show, displaying their talent, public speaking ability, striking and ingeniously made costumes, and finally in beautifully made formal evening wear. Both these shows are held in the open air at Festival Village until late at night, so good weather is an advantage.

Festival Day is December 31, which is a public holiday, and the costumed Festival Troupe competition is held on this day. This competition should be exciting this year with several troupes in the making, including “Equiano Pickney Dem” sponsored by the University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies.

This troupe commemorates the abolition of the slave trade, and comes out of a summer workshop on costume building and story telling held by the School. It illustrates the life of the slave Olaudah Equiano, who spent some of his life on Montserrat, and eventually bought his freedom and wrote a book about his experiences.

Other planned troupes include “Sun and Rain” by Jewelline Roberts Riley of Bijou Originals, a Montserratian businesswoman based in the USA, who comes down every year to put on a troupe.

Then there is Northern Splendor by the St John’s group, the Special Olympics troupe and more. The climax of Festival is the parade of troupes and groups on New Year’s Day, ending up in Festival Village for the prize giving ceremony and closing of Festival.

The Festival Committee led by its chairman, local businessman Johnny Whyke, and the Department of Culture led by its Director, calypsonian and musician Herman “Cupid” Francis, have as usual worked extremely hard towards this year’s Festival.

While the outdoor Festival Village will continue to be used for many of the popular traditional outdoor shows, the addition of the new Cultural Centre this year makes an ideal venue for some of the shows and special events, adding a new and much appreciated venue for the island.

In the early days of the volcanic crisis, Montserrat’s Festival went into a low key but has never died, and as one can see from this year’s programme, this lively tradition is still very much alive.