As residents passed out torches on Friday evening in the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park, Neil Frett sported an ear-to-ear grin.
“Well, just waiting now to find out what next I gotta do,” he told the Beacon.
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Frett joined dozens of other torchbearers on a procession through Road Town to the festival village named in his honour.
There, he had another task: taking the stage during the opening ceremony for the 71st August Emancipation Festival.
In his speech, he revealed that he had another reason to be smiling.
“I want to express my gratitude to God for another year [and] that I’ve received this honour on my birthday,” Mr. Frett told the crowd gathered in front of the stage.
Mr. Frett, who has been involved with the August Emancipation Festival since 1974, also reminisced about the early days of the annual event.
Back then, he said, organisers raised money by organising a weekly fish fry.
“It reminds me of the days when you had to borrow material and build our own stage,” he said. “It is great to see how far we have come.”
The ceremony also included speeches from government officials and festival organisers, who urged residents to take part in the coming 15 days of activities in celebration of 191 years since emancipation officially ended slavery in the VI on Aug. 1, 1834.
Later, the VI fungi band Razor Blades set the tone for the week to come, followed by performers Boss, Bari and Barbados soca group Krosfyah.
‘We’re just excited’
Though some vendors said attendance numbers were down from last year’s 70th anniversary celebrations, VI Festivals and Fairs Committee Chairperson Natalie Penn-Lake said the opening night saw a strong turnout that continued through the weekend.
“I think the opening, you know, set the pace for what the rest of the festival would look like,” she said, adding, “We’re just excited. We’re just open to everything, and we will welcome everyone that wants to celebrate the emancipation and their freedom.”
Ms. Penn-Lake said she hopes to see a stronger emphasis on history during the annual festivities.
“What I would want to see more is that our young people understand the difference between … what a festival is and what a carnival is,” she said. “That we could infuse the culture and the history with the celebrating of our festival, which is really our emancipation and our freedom.”
She added that elders should play a big part in this endeavour.
“I think more can be done to bring forth that educational part of what festival means and what it means to celebrate your freedom and your emancipation while also having fun at the same time,” she said.
The weekend
Saturday night featured the calypso competition, with last year’s monarch Marcus “Young Blood” Mark ceding the crown to Eklund “Officer” Adams.
Later, Trinidad soca group Kes the Band took the stage — and the party continued after that to the sounds of VI band VIBE.
“I was happy to see that no one left even after Kes the Band was finished,” Ms. Penn-Lake said. “[The audience] all stayed back to hear VIBE.”
Sunday, which was branded “Latin Night,” was similarly successful, according to the organiser.
“The Latin community came out in numbers, and I saw some of the locals also enjoying themselves in that environment as well,” Ms. Penn-Lake said. “So we are pleased about that.”
On Monday, the focus shifted back to this territory with “We from the VI” night.
Tuesday night featured the Soca Monarch Competition, where Lenell “LJ” Stevens Jr. took the crown by winning both categories.
Later, Trinidad-born headliner Yung Bredda took the stage, flying high off his latest hit single, “The Greatest Bend Over.”
Yesterday was the “Forever Young”-themed night, which Ms. Penn-Lake had predicted Monday would be popular with the under-40 crowd.
The youth-oriented line-up featured Intrusive, Banco Bizmol, Ova Drive, Malie Donn, Shaw HP and Signal Band.
The theme for tonight is a “Cultural Mix” of artists, including UTB, 17 Plus, Hypa 4000, Voice and VIBE.
Come together
The festival has not been without hiccups, but Ms. Penn-Lake said good Samaritans helped organisers pull through.
On opening night, for instance, the village’s water supply was briefly cut off.
“[Brian Maduro] just chipped in and said, ‘You know what? We can’t make you look bad; we can’t make this festival look bad.’ And they just brought, like, gallons of water,” she said. “In the event that the water does go again, there’s water.”
