There is nothing quite like the year-end holiday season on St. Croix. We start the festivities early and continue well past New Year’s. This season is one of the best displays of the diversity of peoples, cultures and beliefs all rolled into events all around the island.
The holiday season starts off when the street decorations provided by the Gentlemen of Jones appear in Christiansted. The tradition of lighting up the town began 50 years ago by the original group of friends who ultimately became know known as
The Gentlemen of Jones that today is an eclectic group of young, old, political leaders, businessmen and regular folks of black, white, Hispanic and other backgrounds.
The lighting of Christiansted usually precedes the Christmas Spoken Here Festival at
St. George Botanical Gardens. The Festival brings together a day of gift shopping for arts and crafts, sampling a wide variety of homemade treats such as roti, johnnycake and other sweet delights of cakes, pies, tarts and cookies. Each year organizations and businesses sponsor the decorating of magnificent themed trees for auction. This year’s trees included one on fishing, one adorned with miniature paintings by local artists, a Chanukah bush and, of course, the ever popular Cruzan Rum tree. The day is topped off by several school choirs performing traditional and island holiday music.
Activity is well underway in Frederiksted for setting up the
Christmas Village and the viewing stands for the children’s and adults’ Parades. These are part of the annual
Cruzan Christmas Festival. which runs through January 9th. Festival highlights include a Christmas Village, the selection of Miss St. Croix, the Prince and Princess, Calypso competition, fireworks and loads of other activities. The Crucian Christmas Festival parade days are set by V.I. law to occur on the first Friday and Saturday of the new year (January 7-8, 2011 this season).
Neighborhood tramps are also likely to break out during the holiday season. Tramps are a spontaneous street party led by a local band playing, usually riding in the back of truck, in the middle of the night. Neighbors all come out to join the group as they ride through the neighborhood. And no island would be complete with a Christmas boat parade with all sorts of crafts sporting lights, music and
revelers working their way through the harbor while landlubbers enjoy from the shore.
Kwanza and Chanukah observances also take place during the season with their own unique traditions. The Danes hold their own special gathering for the Friends of Denmark. The Danish influence is quite evident throughout the island and the Friends of Denmark made up of islanders of Danish descent and Danish resident keep those ties between mother country and former colony alive. The Friends of Denmark Christmas party features the traditional beverage
glogg. Three Kings Day, the traditional Hispanic holiday commemorating the arrival of the three Magi at the Nativity, is celebrated on January 6.
It isn’t unusual for the Governor to close down government offices to give staff time off to shop—now that’s a stimulus program we could all enjoy on the mainland too.
That is an overview of what you can enjoy during a Cruzan Christmas and Holiday Season. If that isn’t enough, take in a few of the other parties in restaurants, bars, clubs and homes!
Vicki and her husband have been part-time residents of St. Croix since 1987. During that time they have built a house, rebuilt a house (thanks to Hurricane Hugo), owned a condo and are now happy to be renters with a lot less work involved. Vicki first began helping people plan their travel to the island in 1990 via online bulletin boards. Over the years she has answered hundreds of questions about the area and looks forward to responding to yours. Click here to read her series of posts from 2009 and post your question or comment below.
