Anguilla Summer Festival celebrates 50 years

The Anguilla Summer Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary from July 21-August 11, when locals and visitors join the festivities and enjoy cultural events, music, and fun activities.

The 50th edition titled, The Family Reunion, is expected to attract record numbers of visitors and returning residents to the island, a media release said.

The festival is a celebration, affirmation and expression of culture coined by the island’s people. Family, friends, well-wishers and guests from ports worldwide will descend on Anguilla to revel in the festivities that celebrate life’s freedoms and commemorate the Anguillian ancestors’ emancipation, the release said.

The festival incorporates carnival celebrations and competitions, boat racing –the island’s national sport, and other maritime activities, the release said.

Festivities peak on August 5 with the J’Ouvert celebration which is unique because it is the only J’Ouvert in the Caribbean that ends on the beach with an all-day beach party and concert, the release said.

On August 6, the Miss Anguilla Pageant takes place and it is expected to highlight and celebrate past Miss Anguilla winners.

The pageant committee’s efforts are championed by Dee Ann Kentish Rogers, the Minister of Education and Culture and who was also Miss Anguilla 2017. In 2018 Rogers was also the first black woman crowned Miss Universe Great Britain, the release said.

On August 7, the calypso monarch competition will showcase Anguilla’s top talents at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre.

Eyes Wide Shut on August 8, with the theme Enchanted, promises a night and morning of unforgettable live performances and surprises, the release said.

The Grand Parade of Troupes on August 9 will be a spectacle of costumes and dancing. The festival continues on August 10 with the Poker Run –a high-stakes card game that stops at five of Anguilla’s beaches and incorporates the best DJs, competitions and food.

The festival concludes with the Champ of Champs boat race. This battle of locally-made sloops and Champ of Champs is the island’s Super Bowl on the water.

For more info: https://ivisitanguilla.com or follow @axasumfest.