Donald E. de Castro. Photo: VINO/File

A Festival is an event ordinarily staged by a local community which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the festival. Among many religions, a feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. Festivals of many types, serve to meet specific needs as well as to provide entertainment. These times of celebrations offer a sense of belonging for religious, social or geographical groups. Modern festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic topics seek to inform members of their traditions. In past times festivals were times when the elderly shared stories and provided means for unity among families and for people to find mates.

Let me give you an example between a Carnival and a Festival. Many of us have travelled throughout the Caribbean, and quite a few of us have our favorite island and one of my favorite islands is Dominica and where I have visited several times. If you go there during the month of February you will be able to enjoy their Carnival and if you go on the 29, 30 & 31 of October you can enjoy their Creole Festival. We know also that Trinidad is well known for its Carnival but they have festivals at other times of the year. So we know that their at least two groups of people here in the Virgin Islands that know the difference between a Carnival and a Festival.

Several weeks ago I invited the Chairman of the Virgin Islands Festival & Fairs Committee to come on my radio show, “Straight Talk”, to talk about the upcoming Festival. At that time he gave me his assurance that he would come. At the time he said the timing was right as it would be right after the official launching of the 2013 Festival. Shortly after that I extended an invitation to the Director of Culture to join us and she also agreed.

On the morning of Monday, June 5, shortly after 9 A.M. I called the Chairman to confirm his appearance, which he did. On Tuesday morning I went to the Director's office to confirm with her. She was not in, however, during the course of the afternoon she called me and told me that they will not be coming because they did not have enough information for the public at this time. I admit that I never completed secondary education but I am not dumb or stupid and it annoys me when people try to insult my intelligence. This excuse does not only attempt to insult my intelligence but collectively the intelligence of the people of this Territory also. They had just had a grand launching at the Prospect Reef Hotel the Saturday night before, information was all over news after that and have the nerve to say that they have nothing to present to the listeners of Straight Talk. Festival is less than eight weeks away; the planning of this festival has been going on for months and nothing at this time to report to the people.

Their problem is that they are unable to tell the people of the Virgin Islands why they can spend thousands of dollars to bring in outside entertainers and cannot bring in students and adults from Anegada, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. This is a Virgin Islands Festival, not a Tortola, Road Town, East End, Carrot Bay or Sea Cow Bay Festival. They are not prepared to tell us why the Calypso Show was moved from the Culture Centre to the Festival Grounds, why the junior calypso competition was discontinued, why people must pay to go into the village to buy a drink and buy food, why the Village is not more family friendly, or a lot more of concerns that I have.

According to information in last week’s Beacon newspaper, you will no longer see the children in the parade on Monday in Road Town as they are taking them out of the capital and having a children’s parade in East End on Tuesday. I would like to know whose idea (dumb/stupid) it was and those that voted for and those that voted against. But like everything else here in the Virgin Islands, we most likely will never know as everything is a secret. This is the only place in the world that I know off where the leaders have no respect or concerns for its capital.

I hear and read all kinds of negative comments about our festival and you can tell from the comments that they are people who have no interest in this country except what they can get out of it. It is very saddening to see how our festival was changed over the years to a carnival so that people can make money. Our festival was not designed for people to make money, however, if people make money during the festival so be it. Let us get our Emancipation celebration back to a festival by Virgin Islanders and those other people that respect and appreciate how we celebrate.  Those that don’t are free to leave and go on vacation or even return home as no one has them chained here except those that are in prison.

Everyone has the right or privilege to participate or be a spectator in the community they live when any type of events takes place. Here in the Virgin Islands is no different. If one visits any annual event anywhere as a spectator in his or her own community or in another community and he/she does not like the way it is done he/she do not have to return for additional visits, or, if it’s in your own community you right to stay home, go to the beach or even leave that community until the activities are over. Right here in this community we have people that practice Christianity and their particular faith tells them that they must not participate in things of the world so every festival they leave Tortola and go elsewhere. That is their right.

Let me add here a notice in the bulletin of the St. Georges Episcopal (Anglican) Church of June 9, 2013. It’s called “Emancipation Participation”, and it reads as follows, “Our participation in festival will be in three parts, entitled “The Trilogy” and will be presented on August Monday 2013. This follows the Vestry’s approval to have St. Georges and other faith communities restore Emancipation thrust and help to encourage more decency in our festival”.

Every English speaking island in the Caribbean from Jamaica to Trinidad celebrates Emancipation on the first day of August; here it is almost a two week celebration with the main activities on the first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of August. I have no way to see how they celebrate emancipation in the places and I doubt I will ever know, however, I am positive they do not allow outsiders to dictate their celebration.

Maybe it’s time we take a long look and see if this length of celebration is necessary or financially beneficial, to the people, businesses and the Territory as a whole,

All True Virgin Islanders let us unite and remember what we are celebrating, so that we can take back our festival. We need to set a better example for the young ones. IT’S A FESTIVAL, NOT A CARNIVAL.