The V.I. National Park’s 21st annual Folklife Festival kicked off Thursday with an emphasis on the event’s theme, "Wake Up and Plant a Seed."
“At this stage in our history, we don’t grow as much as we used to,” said University of the Virgin Islands Cooperative Extension Service specialist Carlos Robles, speaking to dozens of students from several St. Thomas and St. John schools as well as numerous visitors who gathered at Annaberg Plantation for the festival.
According to Robles, about 99 percent of the territory’s food is imported. However, he said that doesn’t have to be the case because vegetables like peppers, sweet potatoes and cucumber grow well in the territory.
“This cucumber was grown in St. Croix,” Robles said, holding it aloft.
The herb basil also grows well in the Virgin Islands, he said, pointing out its use in making bush tea.
Park ranger Denise Georges, who organized the event, said that there is more to planting seeds than gardening. To demonstrate, Ingrid Bough, who heads up the territory’s libraries for the Planning and Natural Resources Department, was on hand to read “It’s Library Day.”
“Books are our friends,” Bough said.
The students from St. Thomas’ Bowsky School as well as St. John’s Guy Benjamin, Julius E. Sprauve and Gifft Hill schools had myriad expectations about what they’d learn on their field trip.
“I want to learn new things about St. John, see different people and learn about history,” said 9-year-old Daija Williams, a Bowsky School student .
Another Bowsky student, 10-year-old Daquan Venzen, said he felt sorry for the “people who used to live here,” referring to the slaves that worked the Annaberg Plantation before slavery ended in 1848.
Keshame Greer, 7, of Guy Benjamin School, was keen to learn about the sugar “emporium.”
The island’s natural history was front and center too.
“We learned about predators,” said Joshua Germaine, 7, also of Guy Benjamin School.
Guy Benjamin teacher Jeune Provost was busying shepherding the students through Annaberg’s sugar factory.
“It’s important for them to know history,” she said.
Provost also said it was a good experience for them to be out of the classroom in groups to enhance their learning experience.
Most of the visitors wandering around the old plantation said they didn’t know about the Folklife Festival but were curious about the island’s history. Others were members of the Adirondack Mountain Club visiting St. John to work on the Reef Bay trail. They assisted in setting up the festival.
“I had heard about the beauty, but I didn’t realize there were quite so many ruins,” said Joyce Makada of Rochester, N.Y.
Those ruins came into play as part of the Folklife Festival demonstrations. Georges said the old oven was fired up for the first time in 20 years.
“We’re putting in coconut bread to bake,” Georges said.
Local vendors had food and drink for sale. Ecelma Sprauve said that her sweet potato pudding was a best seller. Jane Johannes said the same about her lobster.
The Folklife Festival continues through Saturday. Hours Friday are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday hours are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
