Easter festivities being held this weekend

The 43rd annual Easter festivities on Union Island begin this Sunday, April 5th, and will culminate on April 13th, 2009, under the slogan: “Culture, Sports and Fun combine for Easterval 2009”.{{more}}

A release from the organizing committee said: “In our efforts not to disappoint our patrons, [we have] put together a fun filled package that will thrill, entice and keep them coming back for more.”

Easterval will begin with the opening ceremony on April 5th, which will feature several speeches by government officials, sponsors and also cultural performances and displays of contestants and Easterval paraphernalia.

The event scheduled for April 7th called “Future Stars” energizes the general public and visitors alike as it showcases emerging talents and expressions. Participants for this event are selected from the three schools on Union Island. This event is well-known for harvesting and exposing young local talent and places a lot of emphasis on youth development.

The Cultural Explosion, one of Easterval’s premier events, is scheduled for April 9th, and features both local and regional groups showcasing the variety of cultural aspects and ethnicity within our islands. The feature group for this event is the Tivoli Drummers from Grenada which delivered a stunning performance during their last visit to Union Island.

On April 8th & 10th, two nights of competitive basketball and netball will be held. The tournament involves teams from neighboring Islands and also a team of Unionites living in the USA vying to be Easterval Champs in their respective sports.

Festival Day on April 11th features local arts & craft, products exhibition, food fair, cultural performances, sports and novelty activities. This event provides a perfect opportunity for locals to display and sell products and services while interacting with the visitors.

The Miss Easterval Pageant scheduled for April 11th is the “Mother of all Events” on the Easterval calendar. This well-known pageant is second only to Miss Carival in SVG. The show is the most anticipated event for Easterval and attracts a wide cross section of patrons due to its regional appeal.

This year, seven delegates will vie for the coveted Miss Easterval 2009. They will represent Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent, Union Island, Carriacou, Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago. Last year’s pageant was won by Ennica Matthews of Union Island. The event is the flag bearing event of the festival as it embodies the festival main objective which is to unify the region through culture.

The Soca Fest on April 12th features the energetic and crowd pleasing Rupee out of Barbados, SVG Soca Monarch Skinny Fabulous and his band Alliance, multiple Soca Monarch winner Fireman Hooper, Union Island’s own Demus and Wetty B.

The festival will climax on April 13th with the J’Ouvert immediately after the Soca fest and Street Jump Up/T-Shirt parade later on in the afternoon.