Large turnout for National Heritage Parade in Kingstown

The streets of Kingstown were awash with national colours and lots of Vincy pride last Tuesday, as hundreds turned out to see the National Heritage Parade make its way through the capital.

This was the fourth biennial national parade organized by the National Heritage Committee, under this year’s theme ‘We Love We:{{more}} All Things Vincy’.

The parade, which began at the Cruise Ship Terminal and culminated at Heritage Square, featured over 40 performers, including Skinny Fabulous, Rodney Small, Arabesque Dance Company, La Gracia Dancers, Girls’ High School Dance Group, Naked Roots Drummers, Avenue Dancers and Resistance Heartbeat Drummers, among others.

For the first time since its inception, the parade also featured performance stops at various locations along the parade’s route.

At Heritage Square, the parade gave way to the opening ceremony of the Xtreme Heritage Village, which is located in the St Vincent Co-operative Bank car park.

These two events are part of the week of activities organized by the NHC to celebrate St Vincent and the Grenadines’ 36th year of independence, which will culminate on Tuesday, October 27.

The remaining activities include: All Things Vincy, today, October 23; Rum & Food Festival and Ragga & Soca Competition, tomorrow, October 24; Worship in the Village, Sunday, October 25; Caribbean Karaoke/Vincy Comedy/Games Night, Monday, October 26; and several Independence Day activities (following the parade/ceremony at Victoria Park).

Sponsors include Scotia Bank, Eastern Caribbean Bottler’s Incorporated, St Vincent Cooperative Bank, Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Xtreme 104.3 FM and Searchlight Newspaper. (JSV)