Milling crowds of fun-loving residents, returning Anguillians, and tourists, rubbed shoulder to shoulder, in one of the largest jam sessions seen in Anguilla in recent times, on J’ouvert Morning – Monday August 1, 2016. It was an early highlight of the Anguilla Summer Festival which has its origins in the celebration of Emancipation Day.
From the dawn of daylight, several musical bands, travelling on decorated trailer trucks, left the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre – in the heart of The Valley – for Road Bay, Sandy Ground. Travelling at snail-pace speed, the vehicles were led and followed by what can only be described as “a sea of revellers” – not including those who walked alongside or were bystanders at the sides of the road.
The police and security forces were out in fairly large numbers both to preserve law and order and to monitor and direct the convoy of vehicles and revellers. A major plus for the event was the camaraderie and good behaviour exhibited by the dense crowd and the avoidance of accidents and injury.
The trek to Road Bay took several hours and eventually mushroomed there into the Caribbean Beach Party.
