La Woz Celebration Ignites Castries

On Friday, Castries was awash with cultural activity thanks to the annual celebration of the La Woz Festival.

From about 10 am, La Woz groups from Mon Repos, Grande Riviere, Choiseul, Micoud, Aux Lyon, Dennery, Monchy, and Vieux made their entrance into the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

It was there that Father Albert celebrated the church service to start the Grande Fet La Woz.

The service saw the La Woz faithful in attendance.

Acting Governor General of Saint Lucia Errol Charles, Culture Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire, and other government officials were also there.

According to Fr. Albert, the La Woz celebration reflected who we are as a people and was not something imported.

“Today the Gospel that we have just heard it says the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant going out in search of fine pearls. And as Saint Lucians we have found that fine pearl, we have found that fine pearl of our culture La Woz at the head of it,” Albert told the gathering.

Friday’s church service featured performances, the sharing of the Eucharist, and the coronation of two La Woz queens and a La Woz king.

The three were Axcel Phillip and Avril Thomas of the Monchy La Woz Society and Valencia Stanio of the Grande Riviere La Woz Society.

Before receiving their crowns, they each took the oath and pledged their commitment to upholding the La Woz principles and continuing the tradition.

Following the Church service, the groups paraded around the city center before assembling at the Derek Walcott Square.

There, the celebrations truly came alive as the various groups took the stage to entertain the audience, while encouraging participation.

Dreina Frederick Director, Events and Production at the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF), said she was pleased with how the day went and the continued interest in La Woz.

“The CDF has created an outreach officer where we will continue to work with the communities and work with the groups in terms of not only allowing the groups to thrive but mechanisms they can use that they themselves can employ some of those mechanisms,” Frederick said.

“Some of the groups are pinning themselves to schools, and so you are seeing a lot of young persons as part of the various groups and that is another way and means of transferring the culture,” she said.
Frederick says that plans are also afoot to record new La Woz music for posterity.

“There are new songs, but mostly spontaneous songs they come up with during the séances. So what the CDF is planning to do, along with other agencies, is to find a way to record these songs, so you have that repertoire that the public gets used to and you get to build on the new songs,” Frederick explained.

All photos courtesy Jason Joseph