Low Country Live
Charleston Carifest Celebration
For three days Charleston will come alive as we celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month.
Charleston Carifest, Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebration
Charleston comes alive on June 16 – 18, as we celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month. In June 2006, President Bush signed the long awaited Proclamation, and since then each year we celebrate the culture and heritage of the Caribbean by showcasing a different Caribbean country. This year the focus is on the Dominican Republic, the country visited by Christopher Columbus in 1492. There he was met by the Tainos. In years past It was reported the entire population was wiped out by either diseases brought by Christopher Columbus or by slaughter at the hands of the Spanish. Today, some modern day Dominicans have traced their ancestral roots back to the Taino Indians. Many historians attribute the inter-relations between the European, Taino Indian, and the slave population brought from Africa to the country’s ethnic diversity.
On June 16, the Carifest Symposium themed, Indentity in the Dominican Republic, will be presented at the Avery Research Institute by two outstanding speakers from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. This free event will launch the Carifest activities and is accompanied by a reception.
“Stirring the Sancocho and Seeing Africa:The Emergence of Afro-Dominican Identities in the Dominican Republic” by Kimberly Eison Simmons (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2002). Dr Simmons is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. Much of her work focuses on racial formation, race and gender, identity construction, and women’s organizations in the African Diaspora as well as images and representations of African Americans and Afro-Latinos/as in film and popular culture. She is the author of Reconstructing Racial Identity and the African Past in the Dominican Republic (University Press of Florida, 2009). Sancocho, the national dish of the Dominican Republic, has long been used as a metaphor to represent ideas of mixture and mestizaje within the country.
“Taino Resurgency of the First Peoples” presented by
Monika Ponton-Arrington a Boriken (Puerto Rico) Taino who is an enrolled member and representative of the United Confederation of Taino People. Monika will share information on the culture of the Tainos.
June 17, the cultural journey will continue with a Masquerade Fete at the International Longshoreman’s Association Hall from 7:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight. Masquerade Balls were popular in the Caribbean providing entertainment and a distraction for the Plantation Masters while visiting or living on the plantations. House servants were sometimes used as dance partners at these elaborate formal affairs. Slaves and free slaves developed their own celebrations, and would dress-up and imitate the masters as a form of poking fun at the Plantocracy. These festivities moved to the streets as the celebrations incorporated the African practices and became a major public celebration.
The Carifest Masquerade Fete is less formal requiring only semi-formal attire or a masquerade costume. Masks are encouraged and will be available for $3.00 at the door. This grand evening includes dinner, dancing and entertainment. The start of the evening will incorporate the formal presentation of the Queen of the Tainos, the Coronation of the King of Carnival, full dinner and entertainment. Followed by dancing to the pulsating sounds of the many music of the Caribbean, including Reggae, Soca, Salsa.
June 18 is CARNIVAL DAY. The Grand Finale takes place in Brittle Bank Park from 2:00PM to 9:00 PM. Tickets are $5.00 in advance. This funfilled day will feature a cross section of Caribbean talents and art form. Cultural dances by Estillo 6, and Latin Groove Dance kids will provide the latin flavour, along with DJ Luigi. Champeon Champpezy, Soca artist hot from Trinidad Carnival will shine on the stage and unleash his soca hit, Hellibumper. Several more artists, incluing the featured band, Julemango, some young poets and a new comer Reggae artist. Steelpan music will be provided by the Allendale Steel Band. Caribbean Food, crafts, and souvenirs.
Tickets for both ticketed events are available online at www.carifestmasqueradefete.eventbrite.com, www.charlestoncarifest.eventbrite.com or at Things Caribbean on Ashley Hall Road.
End the evening at TRopix Bar and Grill with Yonni de Rude Bway starting at 10:00 PM.
