Hundreds of people crowded the grounds of the Frederick Harrigan Playing Field on the Whit Monday holiday, in Anguilla, for the Fifth Annual Welches Village Fest. It was an event which was clearly both bigger in terms of attendance and better organised than in previous years.
The crowd, from throughout the island, including visitors, began arriving at the site from early in the morning and by afternoon had increased to an enormous size with every corner of the playingfield a beehive of activity. The cultural exposition, as it may be called, was organised by a special committee, with membership from the eastern end of the island.
It was a festival to reminisce on traditional foods, cooking, string band music, dancing, toys and various domestic artifacts. The event was not only reflective of the cultural and social lives and customs of the inhabitants of the tiny village of Welches over its history. It was also reflective of the way of life of generations of Anguillians across the island, in general, who worked and lived together in a spirit of cooperation, unity and jollification. It was largely that recognition of the cultural past that assisted in attracting so many people from all over Anguilla to the event.
The festival and the large turnout were the subject of much observation by a number of persons. One of them was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Social Development with responsibility for culture, Mrs. Chanelle Petty Barrett, who highly commended the organisers in her opening address. “I want to start by congratulating the Welches community for once again staging this village fest,” she said. “It has become an annual event that everybody looks forward to, and we believe that it is a good addition to the cultural stage here in Anguilla. The Village Fest serves to bring together members of the Welches community, and in terms of community spirit it really adds to the community spirit here in Welches.
“This fest also reminds us of the days of the jollification when people worked together, had fun together, and all in all the community was united. The fest also serves to bring different communities in Anguilla together. We see people from all walks of life – from all the way to the west – coming here to Welches, and it is great to see them in this part of the island. We are so grateful that all the communities in Anguilla can gather in this spirit of jollification.”
Mrs. Petty Barrett continued: “This festival also shows the benefit of passing on culture from generation to generation. We know we can have all the traditional foods that we normally ate back in those days. We have access to them today and I am sure everybody – young and old – is enjoying the food that we grew up on, and the food that many young people might not know about – but can experience through this festival. I hope that the interest in culture continues through festivals such as this. I want to encourage other communities as well to get together in a similar way and stage festivals or other events that are unique to your particular community. This is again a way of passing on culture from generation to generation.”
In giving a summary of the cultural event, Joseph Vanterpool, a member of the organising committee said: “The real objective is to give people an appreciation of what life used to be back then, and I think people are really enjoying it. We have people from all over the island. It is a Welches event, but it is now spreading island-wide in terms of support.”
Mr.Vanterpool paid particular attention to welcoming all persons to the event. “We are grateful to all of you for coming to celebrate with us – the community of Welches – as we present our fifth Village Fest,” he added. “While the committee spent much time preparing for this event, it would not be a success without your presence and participation. We welcome you from east, west, north and south and thank you for being here.”
He was also grateful to the three sponsors of the Welches Village Fest – Malliouhana-Anico Insurance Company, the Caribbean Commercial Bank (on whose behalf Talitha Webster and Jason Liburd spoke) and Lake’s World.
The opening ceremony, which came well into the event, also included an intercession by retired Anglican Priest, Rev. Richard Fahie, a regular attendant of the annual festival. Much of the ceremony was drowned out by the tumult of the event with the constant chatter of patrons at the various food stalls.
It was a hot day at the Welches Village Fest, but the roomy tents around the perimeter of the playing field provided much-needed shade for large sections of the crowd, adding to their comfort and enjoyment.
