The lighted and colourful toys were the main attraction for the children, who seemed to have reaped much fun from the Christmas in Spanish Town event. Photo: VINO

After a rain affected opening day Christmas in Spanish Town was regarded as a success yesterday. Photo: VINO

The festivities actually started on Friday, December 9, 2011 but was hampered by rain, however, the weather was gentler yesterday, which facilitated for what was described by some booth owners as a successful event.

Among the attractions were a small number of local craft, lots of footwear and ladies bags and paraphernalia; colourful toys such as cars, guns, trucks, dolls, bubbles, inflatable Dora the Explorer and Spiderman, which lit the children’s eyes up and a variety of dishes including sea food.

A number of tourists, as well as, persons from Tortola attended the event that went late into the evening, but also clashed with a basketball championship there.

The Christmas spirit was further invoked by a wonderful performance by the HLSCC Ensemble, which received a warm reception from the crowd before it was time to up the tempo with live fungi music.

Virgin Islands News Online spoke to a number of booth owners, who all lamented the rain affected the first day but said yesterday was well attended and their businesses also received good support.

[slideshow]

They were also of the view that the celebration even attracted more persons as well as stalls than last year.

It was obvious though that the children were having the most fun as there was just about everything to make a child’s dream come through. Many were seen showing off their lighted toys to each other while others were keen on dragging their parents to the various booths to get a toy.

“Christmas in Spanish Town brings a nice mix of people and affords small business owners with the opportunity to revitalise our culture,” Sharon Flax-Mars, Chairwoman of the Christmas in Spanish Town Committee, which is hosting the event had previously said and indeed yesterday’s activity seemed to have achieved just that.

The primary goals of this event are to deliver quality family entertainment, including music and other cultural events to the island of Virgin Gorda and its environs, while at the same time giving a boost to the economy.

A percentage of the proceeds will be contributed to charitable causes in the Virgin Gorda community. Proceeds from the 2010 event were donated to Bregado Flax Educational Center Secondary Division Music Department for the purchase of two flutes and two clarinets.

Sponsorship for the event came from the Office of the Premier, the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board, Road Town Wholesale 1975 LTD, Heineken and Heineken Light, Stevens Freight Services, Tortola Vision Center, Speedys, Rock Café, Mango Bay Resort, and the Ministry of Education and Culture.