Ins & Outs of SVG 2020

MAYREAU Culture Children’s Cultural Group Masani deFreitas formed the iMani Cultural Organisation to teach the Big Drum Dance to the children of Union Island. Having staged their first performance at The Hard Court during the Independence celebrations in October 2019, her aim is to promote the rich culture of Union Island for future generations. Masani also hopes to take the children on a cultural journey to Ghana. WhatsApp or Facetime (718) 866-7810. masanidefreitas@hotmail.com New Union Island Conch Festival The first-ever Union Island Conch Festival, scheduled for Saturday, February 29, 2020, will present a celebration of the conch industry which has played a vital role in the economy of Union Island and St Vincent and the Grenadines as a whole. Over the years, Union Island has been renowned for its availability of conch. Today, even more than ever, persons on Union Island are earning a good living from harvesting and exporting conch, as well as supplying local restaurants that have made it part of the island’s cuisine. The Union Island Conch Festival 2020 will see restaurants and cooks serving up a variety of conch dishes in every imaginable form - such as Conch Water, Conch Stew, Curried Conch, Conch Pelau, BBQ Conch, Conch Chowder, Conch Pasta and Conch Fritters – with prizes being awarded for the best dishes. The festival will also feature several other fun activities, competitions, local performances and music. In addition to being a must-do event for Union Islanders, the event is expected to attract visitors from nearby islands. Big Drum Comprising a gatherer drum, a cutter drum and a rhythm drum, Big Drum is an important part of African heritage which the people of Union Island passionately keep alive. Whenever Union Islanders have a wedding, they dance Big Drum, including the Cake Dance and the Flag Dance, which ties the two families together. During the Maroon Festival in May, they go down to the wharf after the morning prayer, pour a libation into the water and pray for their ancestors who died at sea. After cooking and sharing out food, they pour a libation onto the dance floor, make room for their ancestors to enter, and then they dance Big Drum, thanking God for the harvest past and the harvest to come. For some islanders, it is also a tradition to dance Big Drum at the wake of a funeral. Conch Shells Photo: Edson Reece iMani Cultural Group Photo: Masani deFreitas UNION ISLAND 145 INS OUT