Welches, a small settlement area in Anguilla, may long have been regarded as an insignificant and scantly populated village, just down from the more affluent village of Island Harbour.
But it has embarked on an annual event that causes all roads to lead there and where hundreds of people from throughout the island gather, socialise and fete. Monday, June 10, the Whitsuntide Holiday, was, as usual, the appropriate date for the event. A hot sunny day, an array of tents covered and sheltered most of the Frederick Harrigan Playing Field – a large roadside area. It has been made even larger by the Government’s recent acquisition of additional land to the east for parking.
The event referred to above, is the Welches Fest, now in its eleventh year. It began as a simple function by the dominant Vanterpool family and cultural bearers there. It has mushroomed over the years as a popular festival with the involvement of more people and a growing list of sponsors mainly from the business community. Further, it has the potential, as already seen, to be a tourist attraction.
That is one reason that the Anguilla Tourist Board has become involved in the event and has included it in the list of promotions of Anguilla as a destination of choice. Along with the Tourist Board, other sponsors include the Department of Youth and Culture) Flow Anguilla, Digicel, Social Security, Ashley & Sons among other businesses.
Display tables with various types of cultural food and drink, household items and other artifacts, reminiscent of the old Anguilla and various other forms of social life, were all in full view of the throngs of people. Stone and steel ovens, including specially adapted baking drums, with flames of fire on the tops, quickly turned out the famous johnny cakes for which Anguilla is known.
Elsewhere, other cultural dishes and home-made drinks, string band music by Took & the Boys, and other bands, kept the crowd in a lively spirit of entertainment. Among the adult attendees were residents from the four senior citizens’ homes who were specially provided with refreshments by Belmond Cap Juluca.
A special feature among the events, this year, was a fashion show which involved students from the preschools, the primary schools as well as one student from the comprehensive school. The afternoon show, in which the participating children displayed items of past cultural significance meshed into their attire, drew the interest and applause of the many spectators who crowded around the stage. The show was narrated by Dr. O. M. Linda Banks known for her love of cultural preservation.
The Welches Fest was declared open by Mr. Cardigan Connor, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs. He highly commended the organising committee of the Welches Fest for putting on another cultural event, and encouraged other villagers elsewhere in Anguilla to look at ways and means of organising other events reflective of the island’s past culture.
Mr. Connor especially invited his listeners to attend and support the West Fest this weekend. It starts on Saturday morning at 6.30 with a J’ouvert jam session at the traffic lights at West End and then move on to Connor’s Park at Meads Bay.
Mr. Evans Rogers, Minister of Health and Social Development, who has followed the cultural traditions in Welches – and other neighbouring villages including Little Dix and Shoal Bay – joined in commending the organisers of the Welches Fest.
The event, which commenced at daybreak with the serving of a cultural breakfast, continued until late into the night, by which time the crowd had substantially swollen. The curtain was brought down by the North Side Band.
