Tobago Heritage Festival Highlights - Celebration of Local Culture
The Ole Time Carnival -
Opening Night Shaw Park, Scarborough Built around the theme, 'Agbara – Heritage gives Power', the production celebrates the power given to communities through ancestral legacy. It offers a potpourri of excellent cultural expressions. The production - a melange of some of the most successful village productions that have emerged through the years – places in the spotlight some of the island’s best performing groups.
Orisha Wedding - Castara
The ritual of the wedding experience is enacted with great detail. Guests to this event are urged to dress in keeping with the spirit of African tradition as this young Yoruba couple celebrates the joining of their lives with the larger community. Traditional delicacies, cuisine and craft booths will also be set up for the enjoyment of all. The evening ends with a rich, cultural production reminiscent of the wedding feast.
Heritage Village -
L’Anse Fourmi Traditions of the past come alive at the heritage village sited at L’Anse Fourmi. In the village one can expect to see aspects of traditional village life and cuisine such as the Saw Pit, Corn Mill, Creole Rice in mortar, Cocoa Dance, Garden Scenes and a cultural programme would feature as the main attraction for this day. The day however starts at Bloody Bay River where the Washerwoman would take the spotlight doing their laundry in their own unique way. Join them for breakfast.
Festival of Dance
Patience Hill A dramatic production, incorporating the various exciting, indigenous dances will be staged. This is one of the most appreciated events of the Heritage Festival as the colourful costumes and rhythmic energies of the dances thrill the large audiences that faithfully attend.
Wake & Bongo
Whim The traditional Wake & Bongo will form the basis of the production. The passage of death is one that is celebrated in different ways worldwide. This long tradition of 'wakes' at the homes of dead ones continues even today.
Natural Heritage Day
Speyside The natural paradise of Speyside is the centre for the Natural Heritage Day. The day starts at 10:00 a.m. with trail tours to Lucy Vale, Water Wheel, Crapaud Village and the River. At 12 noon tours start to the beautiful and exotic, little Tobago. The day culminates with a cultural production of dance, music and drama at the recreation grounds.
Yabba
Delaford The production gives a glimpse of their cultural past by way of cuisine. 'Yabba' takes its name from a famous culinary creation of Delaford which is a delightful 'one pot' dish, containing many different dishes. The influence of the French and British on African ancestry emerges from deep within to produce this exciting cultural dish.
The Belmanna Riots: 'Out of Africa – The Legacy' Roxborough
Roxborough, the village best known for the production of the Belmanna Riots, will present this year 'Out of Africa – The Legacy'. African roots exist in Tobago in a real way and this production seeks to reacquaint us with this legacy.
Courtship Codes -
Golden Lane, a popular Heritage Village, rich in folklore and cultural activity produces an excellent programme of song, dance and drama wherein which they showcase the various approaches used in courtship as they existed many years ago. These courtship codes relive the traditional Tobagonian customs for the formal consent given by parents, notably fathers, to suitable marriage partners for their daughters. A young man must first seek the approval of his choice of mate by his parents. Once this is given the parents would then prepare a gift of ground provisions and small livestock then journey to the home of the prospective bride with the young man. The suitor’s father presents on behalf of his son, highlighting the ability to provide for a wife as demonstrated by the gifts brought. The host would then accept the gifts, whilst boasting of the talents and virtues of his daughter. Final consent is given only when the young man passed the test of strength, based on his ability to split a wood knot. The young man is provided with an axe and given the monumental task of chopping a huge section of a tree trunk into firewood. A frenzied stream of comments ensues as the young man battles with his task. If he appears to be weak his father would often hurl stinging insults (intended to spur the lad on) while his mother gently urges him on. If he displays great prowess, his father on the other hand, struts around boastfully while his mother registers her pride. During all of this excitement, the intended bride can only sneak peeks at the various goings on as she is not yet allowed to come into contact with her suitor. The failed suitor usually leaves in shame with his head hung low and minus the gifts that were offered. The girl’s parents may either ridicule him or offer sympathy. The hand of the girl is offered in marriage to the successful suitor and the wedding is planned.
The Ole Time Wedding -
Moriah Imagine journeying to romantic Tobago to be wed in grand ole time style! The Moriah Ole Time Wedding follows the Courtship Codes and features the wedding along with the festivities after the ceremony. This event reflects the European influence on the culture of Tobago. Picture dashing gentlemen dressed in black and white formal three-piece suits, with top hats, bow ties and white gloves carrying huge umbrellas to shade their partners. The women, not to be out done, are gaily adorned with 18th and 19th century bustle dresses, platform shoes, wide-brimmed hats with flowers and fascinators with white gloves. Heavily jewelled, they line up alongside their partners ready to 'walk in de wedding.' The ceremony takes place in the village church and is followed by the wedding procession which winds its way along the streets, dancing the 'Brush Back' to the sweet sounds of the tambrin and fiddle. The party stops along the way to enjoy offerings of cake and wine before moving on to the reception venue. Food, speeches, cultural entertainment and dancing continue throughout the afternoon until the bride finally throws here bouquet to some lucky guest.
The Folk Fiesta
has been structured into a family event with activity and excitement from 2 p.m. onwards. It provides for first class competition in all cultural performing arts and also competitions for audience participation. Performance categories are Drumology, Speechband, Tambrin Music, Folk Singing, Religious Singing, Traditional Tobago Dance, African Dance, Pan Solo and Folk Story Telling or Poetry. Original Speech-band characters are being reintroduced and this year patrons can look forward to 'Showboy' and 'Poo-Pool' serving up their unique morsels of this oral tradition.
Wake Up Call
Black Rock The lore of the sea is the focus of Black Rock in the 'Wake Up Call' presentation. The day starts at dawn when conch shell music accompanied by chant and song is heard throughout the village. The villagers awaken and begin preparations for the pulling of the seine. This activity is perhaps one of the best examples of community effort, since all hands help to pull to shore the huge seine nets traditionally used in fishing. During the day sea sports will dominate activities and at 4 p.m. a traditional 'Boat Christening' will be held. The boats are blessed and thus the fishermen are protected while they are out in the ocean. This day ends with a cultural presentation unique to the Black Rock area.
Junior Heritage
Shaw Park The Junior Heritage presents a grand opportunity to see the children of heritage in action. Their efforts often highlight the successful transmission of the culture from generation to generation. They form the nucleus for its survival and continuance of our traditions. The highpoint of this youth exposition will be the Pan Solo and Junior Heritage Calypso Monarch Competitions.
Rites of Passage
Bethel In life we often undergo or experience several defining moments that cause maturity and wider awareness of self and responsibility to be realised. These life challenges, being dramatised by the community of Bethel, depict the importance of traditional rituals associated with birth.
Folk Tales and Superstitions -
Les Coteaux continues to be one of the bright shining stars of the Heritage Festival. Their performance of the folk tales and superstitions unique to Tobago is considered to be a major event to attend. The productions are comedic presentations that inform audiences about the cultural importance of several facets of the lifestyle: from lore, to travels, to the daily chores. This year’s presentation is titled 'What Goes Up' and centres around a woman who had placed her husband by unnatural power under her bed.
Miss Heritage Personality and Heritage Calypso Monarch Shaw Park
The Miss Heritage Personality presentation revolves around a script written by Victoria Pat Mitchell titled 'Woman of Peace – Arise!' It is a call for the woman, the bedrock of African society to use her strength and influence to inject peace into her community in a bid to heal and empower her people. Eight participants will appear in the talent presentation and also in formal wear, which will depict different aspects of the Tobago Heritage Festival. The Heritage Calypso Monarch Competition allows eight challengers to match wit and skill against the reigning monarch. The competition provides performances of Heritage calypso and a tune of choice for the enjoyment of the attendees.
Goat and Crab Races Buccoo
Have you ever seen goats and crabs line up alongside each other, listen for the signal and then take off at top speed? Even more so to be part of the crowd that is often whipped into a frenzy by the excitement and rivalry among competing favourites is simply thrilling. At these races the competition is keen since the best bred, healthiest looking goats and crabs are all entered into this event providing for a day of fun and excitement. All this takes place mere metres away from the waters holding the world renowned Buccoo Reef and the legendary Nylon Pool.
The Ole Time Carnival Plymouth
There is no more fitting way to close the curtain on the festivities than with the grand Ole Time Carnival. The pulsating sounds of steelband and tamboo bamboo will greet the early dawn as revellers herald the J’Ouvert while dancing through the streets. The festivity of the day’s opening gives way later on to bands of masqueraders portraying Ole Time Characters – Black and Blue Devils, Jab Jab, Moko Jumbies, Sailors, Robbers, Burrokeets and Indicus.
More details about: Tobago Heritage Festival