A Valley Street Festival, dubbed “Anguilla Day Special”, added to the crowded but engaging activities at the Market Square and the Food Court on Saturday, May 30.
The event was presented by the Anguilla Tourist Board, the Department of Youth and Culture, the Farmers’ Association, the Anguilla National Cultural and Arts Association and the Scouts and Guides of Anguilla.
The day-long Festival, which was similar to other such events held occasionally at the Market Square, featured local cuisine, local products, games and live musical entertainment.
Director of Youth and Culture, Mr. Bren Romney, commented on the Festival: “The Valley Street Festival is a partnership, since its inception, between the Anguilla Tourist Board and the Department of Youth and Culture. We conceived the project together and we implement it twice a year as part of the Anguilla Day celebrations and also during Tourism Week in November. We were very pleased not only with the progress it has made but also in getting Anguillians to recognise it as a Festival and get them involved.
“The vendors have been faithful, coming out year after year and have shown their creativity. We have various persons engaged in arts and crafts and in culinary. We have our musicians, string bands and other bands throughout the day. We also have The Valley Food Court which is a welcome addition to the area. We are very pleased about what this Festival can develop into and I am grateful to our partners – the Anguilla Tourist Board, its Director, Candis Niles, as well as Product Development Officer, Joan Richardson, for their continued support of and dedication to the Festival. I am also very pleased with my hard-working and dedicated staff for their assistance.”
Mr. Romney was particularly thankful to Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley who was one of his staff members. “She has been the Deputy Director and Senior Programme Officer in my Department for quite some time and has now been promoted to Community Services Planner in the Ministry of Social Development,” he stated. “I have been very pleased to have worked with her for the past week and a half. She is a hard and very dedicated worker who built our youth division with the assistance of previous directors. The Department will miss her, and she is a tremendous loss but at the same time we are very happy and excited about her promotion and what it means to Anguilla. She will now be focused primarily on community services at the Ministry and will also be assisting the Department with its programming.”
Mrs. Bradley commented: “As part of my job, I will be working very closely with the Department of Youth and Culture, in particular with the anti-violence programmes such as the PAVE initiative. I have grown with the Department over the years and so I will not be very far from Mr. Romney and the staff at Youth and Culture.”
