St. Croix showed off the beautiful colors of the USVI Madras at the “Rock Your Style/Flavor of the USVI Madras” event at Fort Frederik on Saturday night. The celebration is part of the Folklife Festival, organized by the quelbe band Ten Sleepless Knights.
The annual Folklife Festival celebrates Virgin Islands culture, and several events have occurred throughout March, which is designated as Virgin Islands History Month.
The Source connected with Kendell “KC” Henry, event coordinator and band member with TSK, who explained the significance of the Folklife Festival.
“The purpose of the Folklife Festival is to educate and to share with the community the tradition and culture of the Virgin Islands,” Henry explained. “When individuals attend the Folk Life Festival, it’s not [an event that only involves] entertainment,” Henry said. “[Attendees do not simply come to the Festival programs] to be entertained by the cultural workshops or the dancing or the models for the event; [they have the opportunity to learn about the Virgin Islands] history,” he added.
Saturday’s event celebrated the significance of the USVI Madras fabric pattern as a cultural staple, highlighting its rich heritage and vibrant connection to the islands.
“[The USVI] madras [is] a calico-like fabric that was originally used by the peasant class in India,” according to an article from GoToStCroix.com. “Named for the small fishing village of Madraspatnam (Madras) where it originated, madras became a very popular fabric throughout the Caribbean when it was traded by the Dutch and British settlers in the 1600s,” the article explained. “Many Caribbean islands have officially adopted their own unique madras pattern to use in their cultural costumes and official decor (similar to the Scottish tartans used for making kilts), and the USVI has [its] own unique madras,” the article continued.
Henry noted that the colorful fabric became the official madras of the USVI in 2021, and a previous Source article explained the meaning behind each color in the pattern:
“The colors of the V.I. madras represent the U.S. Virgin Islands: Turquoise for the Caribbean Sea that embodies the natural beauty of the islands; Blue for the deep seas that allowed ease of transport and made the deep harbors of St. Thomas; Pink for the color of the conch shell, a symbol of the call to freedom; Yellow for the Ginger Thomas, the national flower of the Virgin Islands; Green for the vast fields of natural resources, White in acknowledgement of the original attire of the Virgin Islanders who wore the fabric of the white flour sacks; and Red representing love and strength and appears in all the flags that have flown across the Virgin Islands.”
