Discover Trinidad & Tobago 2017 (#28)

courtesy santa rosa first people’s community
Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez preparing
for the smoke ceremony at the First
People’s Heritage Week
Santa Rosa Festival and
First People’s Heritage Week
With origins in both Trinidad’s First Peoples and
Catholic traditions, the Santa Rosa Festival
in Arima commemorates the death of Santa
Rosa de Lima, the Roman Catholic patron saint
of the “New World”. It begins with the firing of a
cannon on 1 August from Calvary Hill, and ends
with a procession on the Sunday following the
feast day of Santa Rosa (23 August). A statue
of the saint is carried through the streets
by members of the island’s Santa Rosa First
Peoples Community (led by the Carib Queen),
alongside Roman Catholics. Other observances
include sharing traditional Amerindian foods,
cultural and spiritual rituals and commemorations,
as well as church services. In October, the
Community celebrates First Peoples Heritage
Week across the country, which includes
academic conferences, ritual smoke and water
ceremonies, street processions, and other
events recognising and celebrating the island’s
First Peoples. 664-1897
Trinidad & Tobago Film
Festival (ttff)
Now the second largest of its kind in the region,
the ttff showcases a range of dramatic,
documentary, short, and animated films from
or about Trinidad & Tobago, the Caribbean, and
the diaspora. It also hosts educational initiatives
and development programmes (like the Caribbean
Film Mart and producer’s lab), plus community
film screenings all year long.
ttfilmfestival.com
For much more about Trinidad’s culture,
festivals, and traditions, visit our website
at discovertnt.com!
discovertnt.com
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