Come rain or shine, good or bad economy, the seasoned St. John Arts Festival is off and running again with all the events which make it an expression and celebration of St. John and the special heritage of its culture.

The program starts at noon on Saturday, February 18, in the newly landscaped Franklin Powell Sr. Park, Cruz Bay, with the children’s steel pan band, Love City Pan Dragons, performing in the bandstand followed by the Love City Leapers jump rope team, giving first place to the youth of this island.

The Second Annual V.I. Productions Mini Film Festival will be that evening at 8 p.m. at St. John School of the Arts. This is the second festival since the original in the St. John Arts Festival of 2011.

Local artists Janet Cook-Rutnik and Sigi Torinus have invited island artists and video makers to submit short videos for possible inclusion in this mini film festival. It promises to be a very entertaining evening.

On Sunday, February 19, at 2 p.m. there will be a concert of the different St. John church choirs in the Franklin Powell Sr. Park, Cruz Bay, followed by a performance of the “Mongo Niles Cultural Dancers” reviving the old quadrille dancing with 12 couples in traditional dress.

Later, at 6 p.m., at the St. John School of the Arts there will be a performance by students of varying ages covering a broad range of music and dance accomplishments.

Grass roots scratch band takes over the bandstand on President’s Day, Monday, February 20, at 12:30 p.m. when Koko and the Sunshine Band perform with traditional dancing by the Caribbean Ritual Dancers including Mocko Jumbies. This will be a very colorful and lively event.

Love City’s one and only reggae band, Inner Visions, will perform on Tuesday, February 21, at 12:30 p.m. reviving memories of the 1970’s introduction of the music to the Caribbean and the world.

Lastly, on Wednesday, February 22, at 12:30 p.m., there will be a concert of light, South American-style music by the Sambacombo Band.

A small exclusive exhibition of hand-crafted island arts, crafts and culinary delights will be in the small park adjacent to the Department of Tourism’s information office starting Saturday, February 18, and running through Wednesday, February 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The exhibition will be a small and very interesting collection of artists.

Similarly, there will be an exhibition of children’s art at The Marketplace, (2nd floor) all during the week. Concurrent with the five-day festival is the Restaurant Live Music Program, listing all the island restaurants and the various bands and instrumentalists playing each evening for diners to choose according to both cuisine and music. Plus, first-class arts and crafts exhibits in the St. John art galleries.

Although organized and run entirely by unpaid volunteers, significant support for major artistic events is gratefully acknowledged from the V.I. Council on the Arts as is support from the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism for promotion of this major celebration.

Do not miss the one and only Arts Festival of the U.S. Virgin Islands- it is a fun way to learn and appreciate more about this unique island in the sun.

Sincerely,
Frank J. Langley, President



Special Thanks
To all the many volunteers- “The Team Behind the Scene”- for their outstanding efforts in bringing this year’s Festival to Fruition. Also; Rosemary Richards and Karen Samuels (Children's Art Show); Lee Stanclauskas of St. John Printing + Design (program/ posters); Gail Siart of Outside the Box Solutions (website); and the Department of Tourism for the use of the “Little Park” for the Caribbean Foods, Arts and Crafts Exhibition; the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department for the use of the Franklin A. Powell, Sr. Park for the musical and dance events.