April 25, 2007 — Good music and food, great deals and good weather made for an exceptional time for the huge crowds at the Cultural Fair on Wednesday in Emancipation Garden.
Formerly known as the Food Fair, this year’s event honored Muriel Lettsome, a 30-year participant, who was introduced and presented with a plaque at the opening ceremonies.
Throughout the crowd, there were hundreds of people who wore T-shirts with “Murie’s Native Cook Shop” emblazoned on them.
After the ribbon cutting by Gov. John deJongh Jr., who was joined by other Carnival royalty, there was a program that featured speeches, music and dance.
The program was emceed by Irvin “Brownie” Brown and included performances by the quadrille dancers from Joseph Gomez and Gladys Abraham elementary schools.
Prizes were awarded for arts & crafts, plants, produce, cakes & pastries, native candies, best dressed and in the special food contest, best local fruit drink.
Lettsome’s own words from the official Carnival website just hinted at some of the delectable items that could be found as one walked from one end of the park to the other. “My trays include tarts, potato pudding, stewed tamarinds, cherries and mangoes. Don't forget the maubi, passion fruit, fruit punch and ginger beer drinks. And if you're really hungry, fill up on the conch in butter sauce, kallaloo, red-pea soup, salt fish, local pot fish and tasty BBQ chicken with all the side dishes, just to name a few.”
And those were but a few as the list of local treats included, mutton, double pork, fried fish, meat pate, peas and rice, plantains, johnny cakes, coconut tarts, guavaberry pies, pineapples and much, much more. At the end of the day, most of the food was gone.
Kamahoo and Ingrid James and their two children had a booth that was filled with exotic roots and herbs from Dominica, and the intoxicating aroma of fresh cloves, mace and anise filled the air.
Additionally, there was a wide selection of local plants for sale, including palms and citrus.
It was wall-to-wall people for the entire day as folks sampled the food and took in some of the island’s finest bands. At the western edge of the park, in front of the Post Office, the Superior Court Rising Stars Steel Orchestra played with wild abandon.
To the east, one could listen and dance to the sounds of the St. Thomas All Stars Steel Orchestra. And in the middle, under the gazebo, Milo’s Kings kept people moving and grooving with smiles on their faces.
Some of the cooks and vendors arrived as early as 3 a.m., and most all said they had had a great day.
This was the fifth year that the fair has been held in Emancipation Garden, and each year it has grown. Like many of the vendors, many in the crowd said they were going home to shower or to the beach, to rest up and get ready for the parades and the last few days of this year’s “Birthday Celebration – 55 years of culture, mas and rhythm for Carnival 2007.”
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