St. John Festival activities begin in earnest this weekend with activities Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Leona Smith, St. John Festival and Cultural Organization chairman, said, “Come out for the good entertainment, the local food and to see people you haven’t seen in a long time.”
The schedule kicks off Friday with the Senior Variety Show at 7 p.m. at the Winston Wells Ballfield. Entertainment includes modeling, dancing, singing, maypole plaiting and more.
“Age doesn’t count. It’s nice to see what seniors can do,” said Jane Johannes, who heads the Senior Variety Show committee.
Tickets are available at the St. John Tourism Department office and from any member of the Seniors Club. They are $15 in advance ($20 at the door) for adults and $10 for children.
Saturday is the Festival Bike Race, which runs from the V.I. National Park ballfield up Centerline Road to the North Shore Road, finishing at Hawksnest Bay. It starts at 8 a.m.
Judges will pick the Festival Princess on Sunday in a pageant that begins at 6 p.m. at the Winston Wells ballfield.
“We have fantastic young ladies who are very talented and ready to showcase their talent,” said Lorraine Richards, who is organizing the princess show.
Contestants are 9-year-old Sh’Nyah Alesha Bacon, a student at Julius E. Sprauve School on St. John; 8-year-old La’Monèe Rosali Morris, an Ulla Muller Elementary School student on St. Thomas; and 9-year-old Tashyia King from Joseph Gomez Elementary School on St. Thomas. Bacon and King hail from St. John. Morris is a St. Thomas resident.
Tickets for the princess show run $12 in advance and $15 at the door for adults. Children’s tickets are $8. They are available at W&W Fast Food and Chelsea Drug on St. John as well as International Records and Tapes and V.I. Bridal and Tuxedo on St. Thomas.
The following weekend sees the Festival Music Mix, the selection of Miss St. John and Food Fair.
Festival Music Mix will be held June 22 at 9 p.m. at Winston Wells ballfield and features Trinidadian Soca Monarch Machel Montano. Others performing include Trinidad soca artist Patrice Roberts as well as local groups Spectrum Band and Daddy Jones and Crew, Smith said.
Tickets run $45. VIP tickets are $150. They available at the gate and at Connections, W&W Fast Food and Chelsea Drug on St. John, as well as at International Records and Tapes and V.I. Bridal and Tuxedo on St. Thomas.
The Festival Queen Selection Pageant begins at 8 p.m. June 23 at Winston Wells ballfield.
Contestants are Sheniqua Sheena Davis, 18, a University of the Virgin Islands freshman; Clarissa Vanessa Doyling, 17, a senior at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School; Shelsea Akeisha Jean, 17, a Charlotte Amalie High School student; Khadijah M. Athanase, 17, a Kean senior; and Shanell Thomas, 20, a sophomore at UVI. All reside on St. John.
“All are talented individuals and able to represent St. John in the best way ever,” said Enid Doway, who heads the Queen Show committee.
Queen Selection Pageant tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door for adults. Children’s tickets are $10.They’re are available at W&W Fast Food and Chelsea Drug on St. John as well as International Records and Tapes and V.I. Bridal and Tuxedo on St. Thomas.
Food Fair and the crowing of Miss St. John will be held starting at 1 p.m. June 24 at Cruz Bay Park, also called Franklin Powell Park. The Food Fair is honoring Gwendolyn R. Harley.
“She’s known for her artistic dolls done in madras,” Smith said.
Boat races will begin at 3 p.m. June 24 in Cruz Bay Harbor. Slim Ross, who organizes the event, expects 30 plus entries in categories ranging from personal watercraft to big boats. The boats in between those two classes are divided up by horsepower, and Ross anticipates lots of competition.
The biggest attraction will be a duel between Ben Beer, whose boat has no name, and Roger Francis on his Sex Appeal. They’re racing in the off-shore category.
The Village opens at 7 p.m. June 29 in the parking lot located across from the post office in Cruz Bay. This year it honors Clifton “Ashley” Boynes Jr.
“He’s one that does a lot for the community,” Johannes said, adding that Boynes was one of the first people to have a booth in the Village.
The final flight of activities begins at 3 p.m. July 3 with Cultural Day. Details are still up in the air, but organizer Alecia M. Wells said that it’s important for people to come out because it observes Emancipation Day.
J’ouvert begins at 4 a.m. July 4. It starts at park headquarters, goes around Cruz Bay several times and finishes at the public tennis courts.
The parade starts at 11 a.m. July 4 and runs from Mongoose Junction shopping center past the waterfront and to the roundabout. Rodney R. Varlack Sr. will serve as grand marshal. Smith said Varlack is being honored for his long-time contributions to the Festival activities.
Parade applications are due June 29. They’re available at St. John Tourism Department Office and the St. John Administrator’s Office. For additional information call Natalie Thomas at 690-1725.
The entire Festival wraps up at 9 p.m. July 4 with a fireworks display over Cruz Bay Harbor.
