The question that Virgin Islanders near and far have been debating over social media is about to be answered. “Guava, coconut, or pineapple? What tart is your favorite?” The community will find out once and for all which tart reigns supreme and it’s going down this Saturday at Fort Frederik, Buddhoe and Midre Cumming Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The event is free and expected to be one of the largest community events in the town of Frederiksted and will be hosted by social media influencer “West Gyul.”
A ”tart” can be compared to a miniature pie crust filled with a delicious fruit filling.
With 20,000 plus followers and growing, the anonymous influencer known as “West Gyul” has been an olive branch in connecting the community to what is going on in the Virgin Islands, more specifically, St. Croix. What makes the influencer even more unique is that their services are not limited to just information. They have provided community assistance, free advertisement, upliftment and supported businesses with their pop-up shops. West Gyul, which is composed of two people, first started in 2018 when the two noticed a disconnect between the community and the culture.
The two decided to focus on their “West Gyul pride.” “The original West girl would be the queens from 1878. They are the ones who set the tone of what V.I. West and women are. Resilient, strong, make it happen, fill in the gaps, protectors, and we decided, let’s just hone in on that,” they said.
The influencers then started to design pins inspired by the four queens of the Fire Burn of 1878 and other pins representing V.I. pride.
On Saturday, whether you are team guava, coconut, or pineapple, all tarts matter. All flavors will be highlighted and celebrated.
“It was important to have it in West and it was important for it to be free”, said West Gyul. Because the event is free, the public has been extremely supportive in sponsoring in whatever way that they can. Whether it is through monitory, time, or providing free services, goods, food for volunteers and more.
“We know that families have more than two plus kids. It’s so expensive to get them dressed, pay for food, pay for entry. We took all of that into consideration,” said West Gyul.
At the event, children will have the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of fun activities. These include a free petting zoo, face painting, an instrument-making station, a button-making station, yoga sessions, Zumba sessions, a mini trampoline, tart competitions, fire dancers, moko jumbies, and more. Additionally, each child will receive a goody bag.
In terms of the battle of the tarts, West Gyul said, “We are people that like jokes. That’s our way of dealing with the negative in life. When WAPA cut off what we do. We make jokes about it.”
“When it comes to “Tart Wars,” it feels like a safe zone where we can joke, be combative, insult each other, but it’s not attacking us personally. It’s just something that a group of people individually have in common with each other and we seek a comradery,” they said.
West Gyul also said that they aim to become a nonprofit, and one of their goals is to support the Claude Markoe School. “It’s the last standing public school in west. They have teachers there that care and some of those teachers live in west. These are children they see in school and out of school. It is like their own little built-in family that they have going on and we want to help preserve that,” they said.
They are also working on establishing little libraries since there is currently no library in Frederiksted. They also aim to organize four events throughout the year: Tart Wars, Kidsville, a Crucian celebration, and a Mother’s Day event.
West Gyul has also assisted in bridging the gap for other children’s events going on in the community. “I try my best to try and be inclusive and let people know that the inbox is always open. We will never charge for marketing. I want to continue to do pop-up shops for small businesses and I also want to help improve small businesses knowing the information I didn’t know when I first started a business.”
“We are extremely grateful to be a Virgin Islander no matter what the flaws or troubles it comes with. Being able to be consistent no matter what the days bring, that’s how much the love of being a Virgin Islander brings,” they said.
West Gyul wishes to see more support for the children of the Virgin Islanders, something they feel is lacking.
Anyone who would like to help clean up the park for Tart Wars can inbox West Gyul on Facebook. They will be cleaning on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and assisting with setup. They are also grateful to all of their sponsors.
