It is Festival time here in the BVI. Yesterday we attended the August Monday
Parade, held in Road Town on the first Monday of August every year as part of the country’s
emancipation celebrations. Slavery was
officially abolished in the territory on August 1, 1834, which is said to have
been on a Monday. The parade is one of
the highlights of Festival. This year,
the theme also centers on remembering the community’s cultural history and
traditions. Many of the floats and groups that participated in the parade highlighted BVI’s culture.
We arrived early in the afternoon, not sure what
time the parade was supposed to start.
It is never know year to year when the start time will be, but many
thought it would be close to 4:00 pm. We
started the afternoon upstairs at Origin, with an informal wager as to exactly
what time the start would be. Everyone
was surprised when the first contingent crossed in front of the Ferry terminal
shortly after 2:00 pm.
For the next four hours we watched floats, bands,
marching troups perform their way down Waterfront Drive, entertaining all in
attendance. The boys and I loved the Moko Jumbies.
I took over a hundred photos during the parade,
weeded them down to fifty and below are my favorite ten.
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