Virgin Islands National Park Service Presents 26th Annual Folk Life Festival

A mocko jumbie, above, kept the crowd entertained as steel pan drummers kept the beat in front of the mill at Annaberg at the 2016 Folklife Festival. Photo courtesy of Steve Simonsen Photography. 

The Virgin Islands National Park announces the annual Folk-life Festival 2017, in commemoration of Black History Month.  This year’s festival will be celebrated on February 23rd & 24th from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM each day at the Annaberg Sugar Plantation ruins.

This year’s theme for the 26th annual Folk-life Festival is “Celebrating Transfer Day from the Danish West Indies to the United States Virgin Islands”, and will commemorate twenty six years of keeping alive the culture of the Virgin Islands community.  Over the past twenty six years many cultural bearers from the Virgin Islands have participated in the festival, and the event this year will continue to provide students an opportunity to learn about their rich heritage and to inspire an appreciation for their culture.

Events scheduled to take place include dancing, storytelling, drumming, mocko jumbies and music.  Students will have the opportunity to participate at cultural demonstration stations like broom making, baking, wood working, drumming and weaving.

This event is being sponsored by Virgin Islands National Park, the Virgin Islands Territorial Government, the St. John Community Foundation, Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, the Friends of Virgin Islands National Park, Starfish Market, Caneel Bay Resort, the Westin St. John Resort, Coconut Coast Studios and is funded in part by a grant from the Virgin Islands Humanities Council.

VINP extends an invitation to the public to join in the festivities, and admission is free!

Parking is limited. VINP urges attendees to consider using public transportation.

For more information, please contact Ranger Laurel Brannick at (340) 776-6201 ext. 252 or Ranger Gold Hermon at ext. 231.