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History of (29th
June) Fisherman's Birthday Celebrations in Gouyave By Arthur G Hosten JP
The
Roman Catholic Church in Grenada, observed 29th June as the birthday
of St. Peter, patron saint of Fishermen. The town of Gouyave, Grenada’s main
fishing district has been the center of attractions for Fisherman's Birthday
Celebrations. This
takes on added significance since St. Peter’s Diocese in Grenada is also
Gouyave. On June 29th Fishermen, vendors and their families attend
Church services followed by a procession to the bay where the priest blesses
boats, beautifully decorated. In the early sixties, boat races and merry making became part of the Fisherman's Birthday Celebration in Gouyave. The first effort at a Planned event was in 1980 when the PRG declared 29th June a half holiday. A committee was selected to plan the celebration and Ministers of Government came and gave speeches. In 1988, the first week of activities was started by the St. John's Development Committee under the Chairmanship of Arthur Hosten with the support of Grencoda, all villages in St. John were encouraged to participate in different aspect of the Celebrations.
Struggle for control of the celebrations saw a drastic decline in the quality of
the festival from 1991 to 1999. The
Parliamentary Representative for St. John Hon. Claris Charles at the 1999 celebrations saw
the need to have a better planned festival, met with a committee mandated by the
Gouyave Fishermen Association with the view of salvaging what was then become a
street block O. The
Gouyave Improvement Committee (GIC) headed by Mr. Arthur Hosten JP was invited to
manage the festival in 2000. Members of the GIC brought years of experience in
Event Management, to make this festival second only to Grenada Spice Mas.
The last six years saw bigger and better participation and crowd response to the
festival. The
festival spread over a week of activities which encompasses all aspect of life
in the parish, A massive Street Jam and Fire works herald the culmination of June 29th The
management of the festival is now using the Internet to bring this unique
festival to the world. Over the last five years scores of person have travelled
from overseas for this festival, in 2003 over one hundred persons came from North
America and England just to be part of the festival. We have received reports and
enquiries from lots of persons about this year’s celebration. In 2004 an OAS sponsored group of forty persons mainly Event Planners and tourism officials from around the Caribbean came to Gouyave to observe the celebrations and to make recommendations to their respective Governments about their own celebrations. All left Gouyave very impressed with the level of organisation and professionalism that were exhibited by the Committee involved. Despite Hurricane Ivan on 7th September 2004, Gouyave staged its biggest celebration in 2005 against all odds. In 2006, saw a new Chairman of the GIC in the person of school teacher, Mr. Albert Simon. Simon has been a member of the GIC for the last three years, got the support of the committee and community to stage another successful festival. The event also attracted Gayelle TV from Trinidad and Tobago which covered all aspect of the celebration and is now exposing it to its viewer in TNT and the rest of the world. Since 2000, the celebrations was able to attract top Caribbean entertainers and personalities. Most of the OECS's Ministers of Fisheries has made to trip to Gouyave to observed the festival. Comedians
Calypsoians:
Members of the GIC has been invited by other countries to assist them in planning their own Fisherman's Birthday. The introduction of the website, (the only kind in Grenada that Markets' a parish) has exposed Fisherman's Birthday and Gouyave to the rest of the world Fishermen Birthday objectives:
updated 8th July 2006 Arthur (c) |
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