Wednesday’s back-to-back J’ouvert and Food Fair brought throngs of revelers to St. Croix’s west end. Aided by visitors from two cruise ships, the Crucian Christmas Festival staple events filled Frederiksted first with color, then with flavor.
As in previous years, J’ouvert kicked off at dawn when the crowd began dancing its way up Emancipation Drive.
“This morning was lit as [something the Source can’t print],” said Maquisha James. “If you’ve never been to St. Croix, always come visit at Carnival time. It’s the best time of year. That’s the time you can have the most fun and no problems — I promise you.”
James, 35, said she’s participated every year since she was one year old and welcomed the addition of passengers from Adventure of the Seas and Vision of the Seas, two Royal Caribbean cruise ships docked at the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility Wednesday.
“We love the promotion,” she said. “We love people coming to visit our island and doing what they got to do to be a part of us, because once they come, they never want to go home.”
Anyone still on their feet — or who slept in Wednesday — only had to wait a few hours before the Food Fair presented the perfect opportunity to refuel. By noon, dozens of vendors began serving up golden-fried pates, stew and rice, fresh-squeezed local fruit juices and more. Judging by the consistently long line, a favorite this year came from Food Fair honoree Daisy Byam.
“We do this every year — every year in St. Thomas, also,” St. Clair Byam told the Source when asked what made their food so special. “So when we get over to St. Thomas, we have our customers over there looking for us also. So our food is very tasty, and we cook all kinds of different stuff … you ever crab and rice? That’s the favorite right there.”
V.I. Police Commissioner Mario Brooks said the morning went great despite some “minor issues.”
“Dehydration, that kind of stuff. That’s about it,” he said. “But you know, it just goes to show what the community can do when they come together. And that’s what happened, is the community, we all came together to show that we can accomplish it. So I have no worries, no qualms — I think we’re doing well.”
Monday night’s opening of the Crucian Christmas Festival reportedly ended early after a series of fights erupted. Brooks said VIPD put out the message that law enforcement won’t tolerate nonsense for the rest of the Festival.
“The message already been made clear, and we’re going to do exactly what we said,” he said. “If you’re going to come to the village with the intent of creating havoc, or you come and you don’t know how to control yourself — or control yourself after you’ve consumed alcohol — then we’ll just do what we have to do.”
VIPD would later issue a statement alerting the public that the department’s Criminal Investigation Bureau is investigating a shooting that occurred blocks away from the morning’s festivities on Hospital Street. One person was shot and taken to Luis Hospital by private car.
“During the preliminary investigation, the victim was uncooperative with detectives,” according to the statement.
That morning, JFL entered lockdown and asked the public to avoid the hospital unless emergency medical care was needed. A spokesperson for the hospital did not respond to the Source’s request for more information.
