The Festivals
“Preparations for the respective La Rose and La Marguerite festivals begin several months before the actual feast days, 30th August for the “Roses” and 17th October for the “Marguerites”. Each group would rent a hll (if it does not own one) and particularly on weekends hold “séances”. These consist of all-night singing and dancing sessions where drinks are sold and various games played (cf. Cowley 541). Most of the groups’ funds are raised in this manner.
The central figure at the séance is the chantwèl or lead singer who sustains the spirit and tenor of the evening’s entertainment. Most groups have one outstanding or leading chantwèl although there may be two or three others in a group. The chantwèls are usually female, but there are sometimes a number of male chantwèls. Based upon Abraham’s (1969) “rhetorical” theory of folklore, Douglas Midgett has examined in depth the role of the St. Lucia chantwèl in terms of aspects of individual performances of those singers who are central to the séances (1988:55-73).
On the actual day of the festival, all members of the society dressed in the fineries of their respective roles, march to Church for the service which precedes their parade through the streets, before they return to the hall for their lavish feasting, the “Grande Fete”.
Excerpt from Section II: Origins of the Flower Festivals, pg. 5, THE FLOWER FESTIVALS OF SAINT LUCIA, Second Edition, Hon. Msgr. Patrick A. B. Anthony, PhD, SLC. Published by @FolkResearchCentre & Jubilee Trust Fund, Castries, Saint Lucia, 2009.
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