Discover Trinidad & Tobago 2017 (#28)

festivals
In alphabetical order,
here are some of the
island’s most treasured
festivals.
Bocas Lit Fest
The five-day Trinidad & Tobago
Literary Festival brings together
readers, writers, poets,
and publishers from the Caribbean
diaspora each April for
book launches, discussions,
performances, readings, workshops,
and the presentation of
annual prizes for fiction, nonfiction,
and poetry. Outreach
events continue through the
year, both at home and at
overseas book festivals. bocaslitfest.com
Emancipation
The public holiday is celebrated
on 1 August to commemorate
the end of slavery in the
British colonies (1838), but
events take place before and
after the big day. Enjoy art exhibitions,
film screenings, lectures,
performances (music,
dance, and theatre), religious
observances, trade shows, and
a vibrant street procession.
The Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation
Village at the Queen’s
Park Savannah is the centre of
the activities. Emancipation
Support Committee: 628-
5008
Hosay
60 discovertnt.com
Safiya St Clair competes
at the Bocas Lit Fest’s
2016 Poetry Slam
This Trinidadian incarnation of Islamic Muharram observances
takes place over three nights (Flag Night, Small Hosay, Big Hosay).
The festival commemorates the martyrdom of Hussain (the
Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, from whom the festival’s name
comes), and the later murder of his brother Hassan. In a lively
procession on the final day, ornate tadjahs (replicas of Hussain’s
tomb) are first carried through the street, then cast into the sea.
St James is perhaps the most popular venue for observances,
but festivities also take place in Cedros, Couva, Curepe, and Tunapuna.
The date varies each year according to the moon, but is
expected to fall in October for 2017.
Indian Arrival Day
This national public holiday (30 May) commemorates the arrival
of the first indentured labourers from India on the Fatel Razack
in 1845. More than 140,000 Indians were recruited over the
next 70 years to work Trinidad’s plantations after Emancipation
(1838). Communities re-enact the arrival of this first group on
beaches around the country. There are also awards ceremonies;
cultural shows and performances; religious services; and more.
The Divali Nagar site just outside Chaguanas hosts many of the
key celebrations. National Council of Indian Culture: 671-6242
courtesy bocas lit fest