Tobago Heritage Festival begins Aug 1

FOR the first time in its 33-year history, the Tobago Heritage Festival will begin on August 1, the day it usually climaxes.

According to a social media post on June 10, the festival will be held from Emancipation Day to September 4.

The festival, the signature event on Tobago’s cultural calendar, is usually held over two-weeks from mid-July to Emancipation Day.

But this year, owing to the regulations imposed to prevent the spread of covid19, organisers were forced to revisit the format of the festival. As a result, some of the events are being held virtually to maintain physical distancing.

According to the post, which presented a calendar of activities, several of festival’s popular village theatre productions, such as the Moriah Ole Time Wedding and Pembroke’s Salaaka Feast and Les Coteaux’s Superstitions, will not be held this year.

There also will not be an opening ceremony. The festival is expected to begin with an Emancipation Day Concert which will be broadcast live on Facebook from 6 pm.

On August 6, there will be a step-by-step tutorial on the preparation of confectioneries, also on Facebook, from 6 pm.

The Black Rock community is expected to host a Fish Friday (curbside pick-up) at the Basketball Court between 7 am-3 pm on August 7.

On August 23, Roxborough hosts its harvest fiesta while the Miss Heritage Personality competition takes place live on Facebook from 9 pm on August 29.

Other events include Mason Hall’s Heritage Historical Hunt (August 16), a Tobago Heritage Radio Drama Series (August 17 to 21) and a Discover Series Launch (August 31).