Rise & Shine and Festival Parade must be held on separate days
The Virgin Islands’ Emancipation Festival will see a major change in its line-up as the Rise & Shine Tramp and the Emancipation Parade will no longer take place on the same day.
Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism, Luce Hodge Smith, said the decision was necessary to reduce scheduling conflicts and to ensure that both events receive the attention they deserve.
“Our Rise & Shine Tramp and the parade can no longer be on the same day. So we have to come to some kind of negotiation and some kind of agreement that one has to go,” Hodge Smith stated. She explained that the tramp, a staple of the August celebrations, is deeply rooted in history.
“The Rise & Shine Tramp should not be removed because, again, that also symbolises when the people took to the streets, when they’re jubilant and heard the news, that along with the torchlight procession… the tramp symbolises when the people took to the streets when they were announced free,” she explained.
The emancipation festival marks the 1834 abolition of slavery in the territory. The 2025 edition featured 43 parade entries and events across Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and other communities. Hodge Smith described the festival as “very successful” and “crime-free,” but noted that challenges remain, particularly around the scheduling of the major cultural highlights.
The junior minister said the matter would be brought before the public for discussion before a final decision is made.
“I know we will have some difference of opinions, but I’m hoping when we have that discussion and we will bring it to the people to have that final decision, and I hope that everybody will be open-minded enough to recognise that we can no longer have these two major events on the same day,” she added.
The August Festival has long been one of the BVI’s most significant cultural celebrations, drawing visitors from across the region and beyond. The Festival and Fairs Committee will release an official wrap-up and outline plans for 2026.
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I find it remarkable that a former Miss BVI and Director of Culture would want to reward indiscipline. In years gone by we used to comfortably hold the “rise n shine” and parade on the same day and have the troupes cross the stage in daylight hours.
What mechanism is there to guarantee that changing the days won’t result in the same lateness of the participants at the parade start route.
Let’s not have a situation where the “tail is wagging the dog”
WE HAVE DO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THINGS THAT NEEDS TO BE FOCUSED ON AND HERE SHE IS TRYING TO BE RELEVANT ON THIS DRAMA THAT USED TO BE A REAL CULTURAL EVENT THAT WAS DONE WITH RESPECT AND DIGNITY FOR YHE TRUE MEANING OF EMANCIPATION
of not applying deep focus and thoughts with specific outcomes to an issue that is not hard to fix if or when broken.
It indicates shallowness of thought similar to incompetence.
At commissioner . the tail is wagging the dog. The people need to decide that n this. The history of the event dictates what should remain. Discipline your collectives selves and leave the festival celebration as is. Rise and shine 4am to 8am. Parade 10:30am. Discipline your dam selves.
It is unlikely that our ancestors responded in such a manner immediately after their freedom was proclaimed. These were people who had endured captivity for generations. Many would have developed forms of Stockholm syndrome, while slave masters, through divide-and-rule tactics, deliberately set them against one another, especially pitting women against men. Some slaves were even given privileges that made them harsh oppressors of their fellow slaves. Under such conditions, many would have been reluctant to leave. Freedom would not have instantly produced spontaneous jubilation that drove everyone into reckless indulgence with alcohol and open immorality. The transformation took time. Just consider how this festival was celebrated fifty years ago, a stark contrast to the way it is observed today. We will celebrate emancipation until the end of life but these orgy and wild merriments like we see of uncivilized tribes across the world who wear lives and, in some cases, walk stack naked. To truly grasp what it means to break the law in the name of celebrating freedom, one would have to journey back in time, experience the chains of slavery, and wait anxiously for the day of liberation. Think again
the crux of the matter, the ancestors were unlikely to celebrate emancipation in an unfamily friendly manner twerking nearly naked in the streets.
study to fix the roads and cut down all those tree blocking the oceans view now.. try find work for the youths coming out of school.. Geeeze
Go to where the ocean can be viewed. The trees have their purpose and that is to ensure the earth is not dead tree stump with no life in it.
Let’s talk about what really matters. Our surroundings are in a state and we discussing these silly things which only happen once yearly and are just a money drain.
Festival does not encourage or help anyone. Let’s be honest.
Balaclava and bonnet bandits..scary.