‘Hope in a Darkened World’: Nine Mornings Festival 2021 in St Vincent and the Grenadines
by Karen Rollins Dec 6, 2021
The Nine
Mornings Festival in St Vincent and the Grenadines is set to go ahead this year
under the theme ‘A Festival of Lights – Hope in a Darkened World.’
Labelled “the
ultimate community celebration”, Nine Mornings is held annually from 16-24 December
and usually culminates at 4am on Christmas Eve in Heritage Square, Kingstown.
This year
the festival will end at Victoria Park. Only fully vaccinated patrons will be
allowed to attend the official lighting ceremony, but the event will be
streamed live online. (www.brandxhuaraches.com)
The party at the park is expected to include traditional music, dance and food. In addition, prizes will be awarded for the best Christmas outfit, best face mask, best-decorated pushcart and best lit bicycle. There will also be a ‘Bring Yo Song and Come’ singing competition.
The indigenous Nine Mornings Festival is one of the most popular and unique events on the calendar in St Vincent.
It is believed to have started in 1913 and evolved from the Catholic Church’s ‘Novena’, which saw churchgoers attend early morning church services before walking through the streets to exchange blessings and greet friends.
The
modern-day festival features several cultural aspects such as creole
dances/fetes, carolling, street parades, concerts, bike riding, boom drum
bands, and early morning sea baths.
National landmarks,
churches, homes, and other commercial and public buildings are also lit up in around
50 towns and villages throughout the country.
Speaking to
NBC Radio in November, Lennox Bowman, deputy chairman of the Nine Mornings Management
Committee, encouraged every household to put up “even a string of lights” this
year, to demonstrate the resilience of the island in the face of the COVID-19
pandemic.
