Feb. 6, 2009 — Clear the schedule, gather the family and start cooking up some sorrel drink: St. Croix's annual Agriculture Fair is only a week away and there will be awards, food, fresh farm produce and meats, music, educational seminars and fun.
The fair will be going on from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 14, 15 and 16. This is the 38th year for the three-day fair, which fills St. Croix hotels with visitors and draws thousands of residents every President's Day weekend. Visitors flock to the Estate Upper Love agriculture fair grounds to browse and shop at its farmer's market, livestock pavilion, and food pavilion. Loyal patrons come every year to find out who will win crop and livestock farmer of the year, which animals will win awards, learn about St. Croix and Caribbean food traditions, listen to music and have an all-around good time.
Every year, farmers from all over the Caribbean come to showcase their produce at the fair.
"This year we have a group of 14 coming from Guyana, bringing arts and crafts, leather wares and other Guyanese stuff," said Clarice Clarke, promotions coordinator for the fair. "St. Lucie, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and of course the BVI (British Virgin Islands) are some of the nations sending delegations this year."
Clarke works with the University of the Virgin Islands' Agricultural Extension Service.
There will be contests for best homemade sorrel drink and best dessert or main course made with carambola. Sorrel is a tart, red fruit made of the sepals of the sorrel flower after it blooms. It's somewhat similar to rosehips. There are many recipes for the drink, but most typically add sugar, ginger and perhaps cloves to the tart liquid made by boiling the sorrel sepals.
There will be lots of Crucian, Caribbean, vegetarian and carnival food on offer in the food court, and those who've been before will seek out their favorite purveyors. Visitors will find local recipes at several educational food demonstrations too.
This year there will be workshops on traditional candy-making, fruit tarts, tropical fruit ice cream, lentil rice burgers, vegetarian Caribbean cooking, and one on making sweet potato and banana dumplings.
Bands will be playing on three separate stages. St. Croix's junior and adult calypsonians; scratch and quelbe bands like Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights; Xpress Band, Stroka Band and other soca stars; the St. Croix Heritage Dancers, masqueraders, steel pan bands and many more will play all day, each day.
Every year the fair renames its pavilions and grounds for Crucians who have played an important role in agriculture or in the agriculture fair. The fairgrounds are named in honor of retired farmer Dale Nason, who served on the Food Fair board for the Agricultural Fair since 2002.
Nason was instrumental in bringing the grounds and infrastructure at the fairgrounds to the form they have today, Clarke said.
The livestock pavilion is named in honor of the V.I. Farmers' Cooperative. Grantly Samuel's name is being lent to the farmer's market. Samuel owns GLG Plants and Produce and operates a one-acre farm at the Department of Agriculture Community Garden.
Samuel produces okra, corn, tomato, sweet pepper, cucumber and herbs. He sells his produce at the Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Market in Estate La Reine on Saturdays, Estate Southgate on Wednesdays, and the annual agriculture and food fair where he has made significant contributions as a participant for the past four years.
The grounds will be packed with food vendors and fruit and vegetable stalls.
"We have 86 food and refreshment booths that will be filled with vendors selling their local food and refreshments, with everything from vegetarian and native dishes to Caribbean dishes many of us know," Clarke said. "In the farmer's market we've filled 81 spaces for fresh vegetables, ornamental plants and fruit treas. And we have 30 to 34 school exhibits this year."
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for children under 12. For more information, go to www.viagrifest.org.
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