Independence Day – part II Dominica Creole Fest

Beautifully dressed children going with mom to join parade

During the Independence Day celebrations in Dominica, all restaurants and hotels are serving festive Creole food. Street food stands are dressed up in national colours, and people proudly wear traditional dresses.

We went to our favorite Fort Young Hotel to try some of the traditional dishes. As we’re vegetarians, we skipped traditional “goat water” – a kind of a broth/stew, and concentrated our interest on roasted veggies with breadfruit and plantains, cassava bread, callaloo soup and colorful salads – all very delicious!

Walking through the streets of Roseau feels like taking part in a fashion show: almost everyone is wearing some version of national costume made of colorful madras cotton. The history of this fabric is fascinating. Produced in Southeastern India, it made its way to all corners of British colonies including Caribbean in the 18th century. It is believed that its criss-crossed pattern was influenced by tartan worn by the Scottish regiments in India. However, unlike tartan with particular patterns representing one clan, Caribbean madras is used by everyone in endless variations of colors and patterns. The only limit is one’s creativity, although some rules may apply as Adrianna Henderson explains in her article about national dress of Dominica:
http://ciad.org.uk/2012/05/07/adrianna-henderson-on-the-national-dress-of-dominica

The best costumes are awarded in a special ceremony called Wob Dwiyet. Next day, the winners take part in a street parade; a dazzling display of vibrancy and color. My favorite part of the whole costume was a headdress, a creative combination of a hat and a head wrap worn in a fantastic number of shapes; each one a unique showpiece creation.
Check the link to this interesting article, if you wish to know more.

We end this story with a bunch of colorful photos from the streets of Roseau and from Fort Young Hotel, where during lunch time we also enjoyed watching a dance group performing to traditional Jing Ping music.

Stay tuned, if you like it – share, and FOLLOW to be notified about next posts! Thank you!

Margaret

All photos copyright Derek Galon. Story by Margaret Gajek. Please respect our copyright. No usage without authorization, please. We are now available in Dominica for photography and publishing. Contact us for more info.

Creole Fest decorations at Fort Young Hotel brought to mind decorations we see in North America for the Thanksgiving Day.

 

 

 

Lots of tasty Creole food at the Fort Young Hotel.

Traditional Jing Ping band performed along with a dance group at Fort Young Hotel.

 

Independence Day Celebrations – Dominica 2014

So, we are in Dominica, organizing our things and awaiting arrival of our container from Canada.

Main stage of the concerts in the Stadium, opening night.

We arrived in Dominica just in time for Independence Day celebrations: over two weeks of music festivals, parades, national dress contests and all sorts of lively events. Dominica gained independence only 36 years ago, and Dominicans are very passionate about it. Many of them living abroad come to the island on this special occasion to join in all festivities.

Music festivals attract also large crowd from French speaking neighboring islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as Spanish and English speaking regions. They share love for the Caribbean rhythms of reggae, soca, zouk and bouyon performed at the World Creole Music Festival- three long nights of pulsating, electrifying music.

The World Music Creole Festival concerts were well organized by Discover Dominica, and there were enough bands to offer something to everybody. Surely, we all have different tastes and expectations and some bands were not as good as others – but that can be said about practically every festival, and we were impressed with professional organization, sound system, and visual presentation of it all.

Smiling Drummers gave a performance full of rhythms and flair

Concerts started soon after sunset and lasted until morning hours – quite a marathon! Then, during day time there were many other attractions worth considering (we will share a story about this in our next post).

The biggest star this year and a crowd’s favorite was Jamaican reggae sensation Jah Cure. We quickly became fans of Dominica’s own bouyon group Triple Kay Band, after their energetic and groovy performance. Not only their playing was clearly at a high skill level, but the songs were full of surprises, cleverly composed and uplifting.

Triple Kay performing in the park

We quickly agreed with a paraphrase of a popular song they created: “When Triple Kay plays – nobody can say -No!” We will be following career of this fine local band and we hope to see them spread wings far behind Dominica.

Traditional performances took place in the park.

Triple Kay also took part in the Creole in the Park- four days of music performances on the grounds of Botanic Gardens. We immensely enjoyed not only the music but also a more relaxed, casual atmosphere and the strongly present sense of togetherness of all performers and audience. This event is a magnet for people of all age groups including families with children who are having a great fun together.

We hope you enjoy our photos from these events.

In next post we will share our experience from other festivities, such as colorful parade, dress contests, and fantastic food offered during the celebrations. Stay tuned, share if you like it, and FOLLOW to be notified about it!
Thank you!

Margaret

All photos copyright Derek Galon. Story by Margaret Gajek. Please respect our copyright. No usage without authorization, please.