Maroon festival on Union Island

The Maroon is a unique celebration of Union's cultural heritage. It draws from ancient harvest rights brought from West Africa by the slaves that were taken to work on the cotton plantations of Union Island.

The day-long festival takes place on a full moon in May to mark the start of the planting season. It starts at dawn and continues long into the night.

There are several stages to the celebrations that include communal cooking, distributing food throughout the community, singing, drumming, dance. The songs, dance moves and drumming rhythms have all been handed from generation to generation and throb down the years with the sounds of Africa.

podcast:

Listen to Cecil Edmund describe the annual Maroon festival... "We cook here for the day and eat and drink and share... the dance can go on and on until we are ready to finish... We believe in the traditional ways. "

Find a holiday in St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Read more about Union Island and other events