{"id":3273,"date":"2021-03-17T02:21:02","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T02:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lauradowrich.com\/?p=3273"},"modified":"2021-08-09T19:32:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T19:32:45","slug":"montserrats-st-patricks-day-mixes-history-culture-and-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lauradowrich.com\/montserrats-st-patricks-day-mixes-history-culture-and-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Montserrat’s St Patrick’s Day mixes history, culture and tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
One year ago, the air in Montserrat was electric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of people, mainly Montserratians from the United Kingdom, descended on the island via ferry and light aircraft from Antigua for the annual St Patrick\u2019s Day Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Little Bay, they packed into restaurants and bars, while roadside vendors readied their barbeque chicken and goat water for hungry passers-by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parties were in full swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday, March 14, while the Immortelle promotions White Party was still pumping from the night before in the car park of the Cultural Centre, Premier Easton Taylor Farrell announced a restriction on gatherings via an address to the nation on ZJB radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The announcement followed reports of a COVID-19 case on a flight that contained 80 people who went to Montserrat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two days later the festival was officially cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cancellation sent shockwaves among the island\u2019s residents, many of whom depend on the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is the time of year when not only people who want to experience St Patrick\u2019s Day would visit but when a lot of Montserratians abroad would come back home. It is peak arrival time for tourists, the majority from the United Kingdom and the United States, a combination of returning nationals, Americans and British visitors,\u201d said Warren Solomon, Director of Tourism for the Montserrat Tourism Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solomon told Loop News that the cancellation of the festival just before the crescendo and the shutdown of the island for a whole year has taken a huge toll on its economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt least last year you had people who had already arrived and were on the island but to run straight into 2021 and not have the event has taken a toll on local businesses the vast majority of which are small businesses, mom and pop stores, and those who provide goods and services and were looking forward to the cultural events to sell food, memorabilia, and souvenirs. The island really had to come to terms with that over the last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n