Culture of Saint Lucia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Culture of
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
blends the influences of African, French, and English heritage. The official language of the island is English but Kreole, a form of
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...
, remains an influential secondary language. The people are predominantly
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
but the religious climate is tolerant.


Festivals

Saint Lucia holds every year two main traditional festivals, ''
La Woz ''La Woz'' (Antillean Creole for "The Rose") is one of the two historic cultural societies (''sociétés'') of the Antillean country of Saint Lucia. It is also the name of the society's festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated ...
'' ("The Rose", on August 30) and ''
La Magwit ''La Magwit'' (Antillean Creole for "The Marguerite") is one of the two historic cultural associations (''societés'') of Saint Lucia, and also the name of the society's yearly festival held every October 17. The "marguerite" referred to by the ...
'' ("The Marguerite", on October 17), organized by the two rival historic cultural associations (''societés'') with the same names whose affiliates comprise most of the country's population. The
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
season is celebrated and a number of small festivals and parades take place throughout the island. Saint Lucia also celebrates a cultural festival known as Creole Day (''
Jounen Kwéyòl Jounen Kwéyòl (Creole Day) is celebrated in the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia, on the last Friday of October and the last Sunday of October respectively and has been held annually since 1984. Throughout the preceding week, the va ...
''). This is celebrated each year on the last Sunday of October. On the Sunday of this week, the various towns chosen to host this festival put out the result of their grand preparations; local foods and drinks such as breadfruit, green fig, plantain, salt fish, king fish, manicou (opossum), roast pork, Johnny Cake (fried bake) and a famous dish, bouyon (fish, chicken or meat stewed with dasheen, yams, plantains, banana and dumplings), lime drinks, guava drinks and more. Most people commemorate this day by wearing the island's national wear known as the
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. Persons who do not want to wear the extreme layers of skirts and dresses make clothing out of the special plaid material. Secular observances include an internationally renowned Jazz Festival. Beginning in 1991, this annual festival draws crowds of music-lovers from around the world.


Music

The musical culture of Saint Lucia includes an indigenous folk music tradition, as well as other Caribbean music genres such as Calypso,
soca Soca or SOCA may refer to: Places * Soča, a river in Slovenia and Italy * Soča, Bovec, Slovenia * Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, by ICAO code * Soca, a village in Banloc Commune, Timiș County, Romania * SoCa, Southern California Other u ...
, zouk and
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
. Saint Lucia produces very high quantities of zouk music. Modern
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...
today has produced artists/producers such as
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
,
Teddyson John Teddyson John, Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E, better known as Teddy or TJ, is a Saint Lucian brand ambassador, singer and songwriter. He is also a keyboardist and percussionist. John was Saint Lucia's first artist to win and b ...
, Ricky T, Claudia Edwards, Shemmy J just to name a few.


Cuisine

St Lucia's national dish is green banana and saltfish. The Island's Cuisine is a unique blend of West African, European (mainly British and French) and East Indian cuisine this creates dynamic meal dishes such as
Macaroni pie Macaroni pie is a casserole dish based on baked macaroni and cheese. Primary ingredients may include elbow macaroni, cheese, and milk. Preparation Typical ingredients in macaroni pie include macaroni pasta, cheese, milk, butter, flour, sal ...
, Stew chicken, rice and peas, hearty fish broths or fish water, hearty soups packed full with fresh locally produced vegetables. St Lucian cuisine is similar to many other commonwealth Caribbean nations such as Dominica, Jamaica Neighboring St Vincent and Trinidad. Typical essential food stuff are
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es,
onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...
s,
celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...
,
thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenou ...
,
coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food i ...
, the very hot
scotch bonnet peppers Scotch bonnet (also known as Bonney peppers, or Caribbean red peppers) is a variety of chili pepper named for its supposed resemblance to a Scottish tam o' shanter bonnet. It is ubiquitous in West Africa as well as the Caribbean. Like the clos ...
, flour and cornmeal. All mainstream meat and poultry are eaten in St Lucia meat and seafood are normally stewed and browned to create a rich gravy sometimes served over ground provisions or rice. Due to St Lucia's East Indian influenced by its small Indo-Caribbean population, curry is very popular. However, due to the blend of between cooking styles, curry dishes have a distant Caribbean twist to it. In recent years, roti, a flatbread of Indian origin, has become very popular being imported from the twin island nation of
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
to the south. This bread is typically served as a fast food snack. The bread itself is very flat (sometimes very thin) and is wrapped around curried vegetables such as chickpeas, potatoes, or meat.


Literature

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...
is the most prominent St. Lucian writer, Nobel Prize winner in 1992.


Art

Dr The Honourable Bongskie Agno, renowned St. Lucian artist, was knighted in the 2009/2010 New Year's honours list, for his services to art. The investiture ceremony was held on 9 April 2010, at Government House where the Governor General on the advice of Her Majesty the Queen, invested Sir Dunstan St. Omer with the Insignia of a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG). The UK Telegraph has described him as “the Michelangelo of the Caribbean”. Designer of the St Lucian flag. In 2007 the Folk Research Centre declared him a National Cultural Hero. Born in Castries, on October 24, 1927. Died, aged 87, on May 5, 2015.


Carnival

Traditionally, in common with other Caribbean countries, Saint Lucia held a
carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
before
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
. In 1999, it was moved to mid-July so as not to clash with the much larger
Trinidad and Tobago carnival The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. This event is well known for participants' colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. There are numerous cultural ev ...
, and in effort to attract more overseas visitors. It is a two-day festival where people walk about two miles. Before carnival, there is a competition among women in the country to find the queen of carnival.


Sport

Another popular sport in Saint Lucia is Football. Football played all over the island as well as cricket.
Darren Sammy Daren Julius Garvey Sammy (born 20 December 1983) is a Saint Lucian cricketer who played international cricket for the West Indies. He is a two time T20 World Cup winning captain. On making his One-Day International (ODI) debut against Banglad ...
is the former captain of the
west Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
team.


External links


Code of Etiquette for the use of the National Flag of Saint Lucia
* Biography available i
The Designers (Saint Lucia National Symbols)

St. Lucia Jazz
- Official site by St. Lucia Tourist Board
St. Lucia Folk Research Center

LucianCarnival.com
- Official website of Saint Lucia Carnival
Luigi St Omer
- Web site of the most prominent St. Lucian painter Luigi St Omer {{authority control