For the second year running, a jam session, or j’ouvert, from the stoplights at the junction of Long Bay and the John Hodge Drive to Meads Bay, highlighted West Fest, a cultural event staged by an organising committee with support from across Anguilla.
From about 5.30 a.m. revelers were already on the road dancing en masse to truck-driven bands, and cooled down by a passing light shower. They headed to Connors’ Park, a strip of scenic land – opposite Carimar’s Beach Club – owned by the Connors’ family, and made available to the people of West End for their cultural event.
West Fest is one of several established catching on well events in such villages as Island Harbour with Festival Del Mar; the East End Ting, just held on Monday, June 17; the recent Whit Monday Welches Fest; the South Hill village event; and the Blowing Point festival, now in the making.
West Fest is an initiative of Mr. Cardigan Connor, the Elected Representative for the Long Bay/West End constituency, who holds the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary, Tourism, Culture and Sports. He is known to have initiated an honours award event for celebrated boat-racing captains and crews at West End, leading to the creation of West Fest and a move to reinstate and promote the historic boat-racing, music and feting at Mead Bay.
West Fest spanned two days: Saturday, June 15, with the jam session, as stated above, a B-class boat race, music and dancing and an array of tents with food and drink. The event continued on Sunday, June 16, but without the A-class boat race due to unfavourable winds. The finish was a spectacular fireworks display – an additional feature this year.
In some ways, West Fest calls to memory earlier days when, in addition to boat-racing, there was the compelling music by the late Davis Hughes which together were the main attractions for many persons at West End and other parts of Anguilla.
Mr. Connor, who was busily ensuring that all was going well at West Fest, paused on day one of the event to speak with The Anguillian newspaper.
“The beauty is that West Fest 2019 has lived up to our great expectations,” he stated. “The number of revellers we had along the road, and those at the sides of the road in support of the event, suggested that it was a great way of bringing our people together. They were eventually brought to this spot which we are fortunate to have from the Connors’ family of Meads Bay.
“They have allowed us to clear their land especially for the development of boat-racing in Meads Bay. Boat-racing has been a great tradition here for many years. In the past, it was all about Davis’ Music Hall and the coco-plum trees which we have now lost. But for the boat-racing which we also knew about, it is vitally important for us to have a facility like this Connors’s Park, to be able to host boat-racing.
“Today, even though the winds are a bit stronger, the fact is that the Class B boats are all keen to get out there and make the race happen. To have had a number of young people who revelled and danced in the street earlier in the day, and of course, those who follow boat-racing would suggest that this is all unique to us and part of the overall product of what we deliver to the Anguilla festival season.”
Mr. Connor acknowledged that there were a number of sponsors for West Fest, all of whom were highly appreciated. “I think a number of them really understand the importance of being supportive of the festivals in Anguilla as a tourism destination,” he said. “West Fest, which is now one of those festivals, was an initiative that I, and a number of other persons, came up with about seven years ago for honouring the pioneers of boat-racing.
“The idea was to find a village champion and, over the years, that was successful and led to West Fest which has grown very much. Over the last couple of years, a number of our younger generation brought more to the festival in terms of music and the J’ouvert. It was very successful last year; more successful this year; and, going forward, there is no reason why it should not go from strength to strength.”
