Saint Lucians are coming out of a hectic Kwéyòl weekend and the reviews are as mixed as the various influences on our Kwéyòl heritage.
Jounen Kwéyòl Entenasyonal or International Creole day is observed officially on October 28 in the French Creole speaking countries of Saint Lucia, Dominica, Martinique, and Guadeloupe.
However here in Saint Lucia the entire month of October has been designated Creole Heritage Month, with the main activity being staged on the Sunday closest to October 28.
This year was no different as activities reached fever pitch over the weekend.
Last Friday, from schools to business places, the evidence was there in the décor that featured the madras as the centerpiece, to the food and the music and even the playing of traditional games in some cases.
Then on Saturday, there was the mad rush for creole attire as well as produce and condiments to prepare traditional dishes such as dumplings, cocoa tea, acras, bouyon, pork, salads and more.
The law of supply and demand dictates that when demand exceeds supply, prices tend to rise, and such was the case. Lettuce, tomatoes, smoke herring, saltfish and cucumbers all appeared more expensive than usual.
Moreover, those increase in prices continued to be reflected in the prices of prepared dishes on Sunday, when the three host communities Anse La Raye, Dennery and Mon Repos welcomed Saint Lucians from various parts as well as visitors to share in their activities for the day.
From all accounts and even from our own perspective, Mon Repos, where the first Jounen Kweyol activity was held forty years ago, seemed to have brought home the bacon.
Throughout the day, there were cultural presentations on the stage located on the Patience playing field. There were also a number of exhibitors on the nearby court; while a short distance away, there was an open house exhibition at “Place Sessene,” the home of the late culture queen of Saint Lucia, Sessene Descartes.
However, there were just two major complaints, that of the heavy traffic and food prices.
While many we spoke with said they enjoy the events, some said they may reconsider venturing out next year, due to the food prices.
On Monday, the head of the Folk Research Centre Melchoir Henry acknowledged the traffic issues, which he says continue to be a challenge.
“In spite of this, I think that overall from the FRC’s perspective things went very well,” Henry told St. Lucia Times.
When asked about the complaints of the high prices of food, he said that such issues were beyond the control of the FRC. “It is like any other event, Carnival, New Year’s Day, Jazz, where vendors put their various markups based on what they feel is necessary to make a profit from the expenses they may have incurred,” he said.
He also reminded that the activities for Creole Heritage Month continue and encompass the entire month of October. A number of communities hosted events during the month, such as storytelling, traditional games, sewenal and river washing.
The La Marguerite festival as well as the national Kwéyòl song competition were also part of Kwéyòl Heritage Month.
“The push to have people visit the communities throughout the month did not work out the way we wanted it to this year but it is something that we want to continue to encourage and promote some more next year,” Henry said.
He believes that with greater private/public sector partnership and continued buy in from the wider public, Kweyol Heritage Month can truly become the pervasive national cultural event that the FRC would like it to become.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think it was Jounen Bounty.
Yet another blocko. We have enough of these already.
Lucians will complain out of one side of their mouth, and eat said issue with the other side, and then later on complain again. You get more of what you’re willing to put up with, people.
one fete after another. SLP tactic is to have them stoned or drunk. alcohol or ganga take your pick. that way, they can get on with their questionable brand of governing.
They are not complaining about Courts Unicommer and the 45 percent interest rates, but they are complaining about the price of food . Well then just eat the money and leave the people food alone some of them even taking loans to join carnival bands …
One thing I can say about the festival is most of us are not making any plans regarding
Growing more callaue leafy greens what is needed for the dishes we have to cook we have to encourage the farmers to plant more so when the day comes people can get whatever they need so if we have in abundance the price will be lower
Some Lucians complain complain complain about everything – it does not matter where you reside in the world – there are increases in products/goods/services/rent/clothing/ et. etc. – it all’s about your personal priority. Live your best life and stop complaining – living is costly period.
@Bipolar – you are correct some take loans for carnival regardless of the price of the costumes and the shows, drinks etc. – no complaints there. In addition every jazz show – they are marked present – no complaints there either.
It’s interesting how many people express frustration over the price of food yet readily spend on high-end items like shoes. While everyone has the right to make choices on what they buy, it’s essential to recognize what goes into making food available to us. Vendors work tirelessly, managing not only the cost of ingredients but also expenses like rent, transportation, and even wages if they have staff to help prepare meals. These aren’t minor costs, and they add up quickly, especially when aiming to deliver quality.
What’s troubling is that some customers purchase food, then take to social media to voice their grievances, often with unnecessary harshness or even offensive language. Such actions don’t just impact a business; they affect people’s livelihoods. It’s one thing to give constructive feedback but another to resort to disrespect, especially when it’s not reflective of the effort and dedication vendors pour into their work.
Before we critique, let’s consider the whole picture. These vendors are part of our community, striving to serve us while balancing their costs. If we value and support them, they can continue to bring quality food into our neighborhoods. Let’s focus on constructive feedback and, more importantly, respect.
Yes they will complain about thr price of food for Jounen Kweyol but they will not complain about the exorbitant prices of carnival fetes quoted in US dollars (US$300+) of which they can hardly eat two meals – take loans to attend all of them, but when the little people, without concessions, have to prepare meals to earn a little money during the Kweyol they’re complaining. They not complaining about the hugh cost of food at Massy nuh…smdh
Its just a money making business. Im a st lucian but I never attend Jounen kweyol. I just stay home with my chidren. I dont even buy anything locally sold durng the month of October just to avoid the expensive cost. I dont even like the jounen creole colours so i dont buy the clothes. Yuke
Meanwhile I heard a bake and saltfish was $10…someone mentioned they gave $10 for cocoa tea and got no change.
I made the trip to Micoud. Turned out to be just another money making, noise saturated bloko.
Everything in Fair Helen is about jumping from fete to bloko to carnival to party time.
As a result and with no plan by the SLP for governance we are losing the integrity of all our institutions.
Security apparatus is a failure, medical infrastructure is a failure, civil service is a failure, education is a failure, Parliament is a failure and abused by the SLP hacks in charge, culture has become a tourism facade or fete opportunity.
What we do not recognize is that as we slowly gut our institutions internally particularly with corruption and bobol that eventually the society collapses into mayhem.
We see it slowly happening under the SLP ineptitude and agenda , we constantly complaining but do not realize the trouble we are
in.
The upper middle class that put the SLP in place are all silent. What hypocrites! And they do not even have the perception to understand what is happening to our lovely country.