Calabash in focus on volcanic Montserrat (cont'd)
Emerald Community Singers
The Emerald Community Singers, a folk and choral group co-founded by Professor Irish, also put on a lively performance at the Calabash Festival. The performance was a preview of their show “One night -- a week in the Caribbean”, which they went on to perform on a tour of Yorkshire in the UK.
This tour was intended not only to bring a taste of Montserrat’s culture to Britain, but also to raise funds for the new Girl Guides headquarters to be built on the island. The Yorkshire Guides have been supporting this effort with fundraising activities for the project.
The lively and colourful show featured activities for each day of the week -- worship on Sunday, love and romance on Monday, and so on, finishing with calypso and reggae on Saturday.
Food Fair
Food from several Caribbean countries represented on Montserrat formed the Food Fair, which took place in the grounds of the Tropical Mansion Suites Hotel. This hotel was built a few years after the volcanic activity started by the Galloway’s, an enterprising local family whose members designed, built and now manage this attractive hotel.
Countries showing off their food included Montserrat, Guyana, Jamaica, Dominica, Haiti, the Dominical Republic, and India, all of which have communities on island. Here one could chose from traditional soup in a calabash, Montserrat’s local dish goatwater, Jamaican jerk chicken and pork, and several other tasty dishes. Goatwater is a tasty goat stew with lots of gravy, traditionally served on festive occasions with a bread roll.
Ferry cancellation
With this Festival the calabash seems to have found its rightful place, and has revived many memories as well as being an eye-opener for the younger folk. The only disappointment was the cancellation of the ferry trip from St Kitts and Antigua, planned especially for the Festival. Montserrat has a brand new airport with four flights per day, but is missing the twice daily (British subsided) ferry that plied between Montserrat and Antigua after the old airport was destroyed by the volcano.
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