St. Patrick's Day... not only the Irish!
March 2, 2022
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But don’t mistake it as a stereotype replica of the Irish/ American style revelry. It is a very unique cultural gathering unlike anyone would expect to experience. In Montserrat this annual cultural festival, while they acknowledge the Irish influence, is a celebration where beating drums and wearing tall hats that resemble a bishop‘s miter, masqueraders participate in an expression of both respect for African ancestors and protest against the European plantation owners who had enslaved them.
The 10-day festival featuring parades, concerts, pub crawls and food fairs commemorates the slave uprising of 1768, when a group of enslaved people planned to take advantage of the plantation owners’ and overseers’ holiday drunkenness and revolt across the island. Though the revolt failed at the time, the bravery of the rebels is remembered to this day.
pictures/ video copyright: ©Montserrat Tourism Division
sources: National Geographic
The 10-day festival featuring parades, concerts, pub crawls and food fairs commemorates the slave uprising of 1768, when a group of enslaved people planned to take advantage of the plantation owners’ and overseers’ holiday drunkenness and revolt across the island. Though the revolt failed at the time, the bravery of the rebels is remembered to this day.
pictures/ video copyright: ©Montserrat Tourism Division
sources: National Geographic