 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
There is always something happening in the BVI! Sailing regattas, surfing competitions, windsurfing events, cycling races, car rallies, full moon parties, no moon parties, music festivals, cricket matches, sandcastle building contests and more. BVI
August Festival 2001
BVI August Festival - Road Town, Tortola The August Festival Celebration is the biggest cultural event of the year in the British Virgin Islands and visitors delight in joining in the fun! The Festival commemorates the emancipation proclamation of Friday, August 1st, 1834 which marked the abolition of slavery in the British Virgin Islands. The proclamation was read aloud to the general population of Tortola on Monday, August 4th, 1834 at the Sunday Morning Well. Since then, the first Monday in August has been a day of celebration in the BVI. Modern day celebrations begin with the opening of the Festival Village in Road Town (approximately a week before Festival Monday) and continue until the first Wednesday of August when a parade takes place in East End. Among the activities of this lively celebration are: Rise & Shine
Tramp (Early morning hours of Festival Monday) BVI Festival Village The Festival Village
is the center of activity for the BVI August Festival. Located in Road
Town, Tortola, the village offers food booths, rides for the children,
various activities throughout the festival and lots and lots of music
and dancing! Not for the faint of heart (or those of us who like to be tucked snugly in our beds in the early morning hours), the Rise and Shine Tramp is the embodiment of "energy" and the precursor to the Grand Parade. Beginning around midnight on Festival Monday, the tramp follows the parade route down Main Street. During the tramp several bands (on flatbed trailers) proceed very slowly through town, towed by trucks. The revelers dance, sing and generally party their way through the night and along the parade route. BVI Grand Festival Parade - Road Town, Tortola Music and dance combined with fabulous costumes and big, BVI smiles make the grand festival parade a tremendous spectacle for all to enjoy. There are plenty of opportunities to sample the local food and drink along the parade route too. This colourful and highly energetic event never fails to evoke lots of Oooohs and Ahhhhhs from the spectators. Sky Dancers (or Mocko Jumbies) are a perennial favourite and a big hit with children and adults alike. The dancers are perched atop heavy wooden stilts of varying heights and they proudly entertain the crowd which gathers along Waterfront Drive in Road Town. It is not unusual to see a mocko jumbie dancer taking a well deserved rest atop a low rise building for just a few minutes during the parade. The tradition of mocko jumbie stilt walking was brought to the Caribbean by African slaves. It was based in a religious belief that the Mocko Jumbies could frighten off evil spirits and would prevent these spirits from damaging their crops. All areas of the BVI community band together to form various troupes represented by colourful and intricate costumes, some of which take a full year to make as many are hand made and truly breathtaking. The music varies from Steel Band to Fungi to Reggae and is always plenty loud enough to be heard from a good distance. The parade usually lasts a couple of hours. The festivities continue at the festival village with lots of music, dancing, eating and drinking. Definitely a "don't miss" event if you are visiting the British Virgin Islands over the first Monday in August. Note: The parade is almost always advertised as beginning at 11:00 am ... but it has been my experience that it has never started before 1:00 or 2:00 PM. Calendar of Events for BVI Festival 2001 Soon Come! HIHO (Hook In & Hang On) International Windsurfing Regatta) The annual HIHO windsurfing adventure combines a week of water sports fun with an inter-island odyssey. The HIHO fleet of 100 windsurfers charts a course through the British Virgin Islands, the World's most beautiful collection of islands. HIHO is fun, exciting, wild, exhilarating and definitely the most fun you can have on vacation! Windsurfers will cover over 150 miles as they race over 7 times from one island to another. Non-windsurfers will delight in the nonstop action provided by a team from the Bitter End Yacht Club. Non-windsurfing activities include sailing, diving, snorkeling, kayaking, Hobie Cat sailing ... you name it! HIHO
- BVI The Caribbean 1500 Cruising Rally This long distance cruising rally which has taken place for the past 11 years, departs from Hampton, Virginia and the fleet heads for Virgin Gorda, BVI ... a passage of more than 1500 miles. This is a tremendous opportunity for sailors to gain safe cruising experience in off shore conditions. Safety in numbers is tried and true saying and particularly applies to the Caribbean 1500 rally. Caribbean
1500 Cruising Rally The Black Boaters Summit was initiated in an effort to bring black boaters and vacationers together to explore and enjoy the Caribbean together. Crewed yachts (for non-sailors) as well as bareboat yachts sail together in a flotilla to various predetermined BVI destinations. Lots of shoreside activities are planned and a great time is had by all. On September 15 to 23, 2001, 400 plus African Americans from all over the United States will meet in the BVI for The 4th Annual Black Boaters' Summit. What makes this event so unique, is that most of the participants will be 1st timers to bareboating and to the BVI. The fleet will consist of catamarans chartered from various BVI companies. Many of the participants will be members of The National Brotherhood Of Skiers and The National Association Of Black Scuba Divers. In addition to the seven day sailing venue, there will be a landlubber program which will follow the fleet's itinerary by ferry, and a Sand & Surf event which will be 3 nights on a catamaran and 4 nights at a hotel.. Black
Boaters Summit July 6 to 8 - Chief Minister's Cup - International Youth Sailing Regatta The annual Chief Minister's Cup & International Youth Sailing regatta saw its inaugural race in 1999 which was held at Nanny Cay Resort on Tortola, with teams of sailors aged 10 to 18 from all over the Caribbean racing against each other on J-24's. This event is hosted by KATS (Kids and the Sea) and co-sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Road Town and Tortola, the BVI Yacht Club, CCT Boat Phone as well as immeasurable support from major and minor sponsors and dozens of volunteers. The 2000 regatta was an exciting (and exhausting) event with nine teams from Tortola, Virgin Gorda, St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic and Antigua vying for the coveted Chief Minister's Cup. The kids raced no less than 16 races in just two days! Yup ... count em folks, 16!!! The kids held up under the strain just fine, but I can't say the same for the race officials, organizers and score keepers. WHEW! The St. Croix team defended their title handily, with the team from St. John placing second. Our own "Team Virgin Gorda" took away the bronze medal, with "Team Tortola" garnering a respectable sixth place. This regatta offers the kids of the territory an opportunity to get involved in a serious racing venue which is handled in exactly the same way as adult races ... parties and all!. The same rules apply and the competition is fierce. In previous years, the children and their chaperones were billeted aboard charter yachts, kindly donated by various bareboat charter companies in the BVI. However, with the event growing in popularity, (this year there will be 12 teams participating) the committee found that it was becoming more and more difficult find enough available yachts to house the various teams. As a result, the committee decided to set up a KATS village and have procured tents and camping gear required to house upwards of 100 kids and their chaperones for this year's event. The 2001 International Youth Sailing Regatta will again be held at Nanny Cay from July 6th to 8th. Race results and photos will be posted as soon as the event wraps up and all of us on the organizing committee get a few days to rest up. KATS
- Chief Minister's Cup - International Youth Sailing Regatta
BVI
Chamber Of Commerce & Hotel Association
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
