What is Jounen Kweyol?

Jounen Kweyol also known in English as Creole day is the day of celebration of our Creole heritage.

As you may know, St Lucia is bi-lingual, which means we speak two languages. Although the general population speaks English (official language) as their first language, the majority of the older folks speak kweyol (patois).

The reason why St Lucia has a Creole heritage is because it was fought over by the British and French, making it colonies of the British and French seven times each, finally making it a colony of the British. Because of the influence of both parties, a dialect evolved into a whole new language which became widely spoken.

The month of October was set aside as Creole heritage month from 1984, a few years after St Lucia became independent from the British in 1979,

Every year on the last Sunday in the month of October, Jounen Kweyol is observed. The activities bring to life all those things that happened in the past.

What Will You Get To See?
You will get to see men displaying how they used to saw wood, the making of Creole bread using wood to heat the oven, making of cassava bread, bakes and fish cakes made out of Cray fish, the making of certain tantalizing dishes that were prepared long ago that has lose its popularity in recent times; crab callaloo, pemie, roasted sardines eaten with breadfruit, and more

The national dress (the madras, a plaid like material) is normally worn around that time of the year in honor of our creole heritage.

You will also find all schools taking part in the festivity, hosting shows and speaking Creole only for the day.

For 2008 there are four communities that will be hosting the festival in St Lucia. It is customary to host the festival in four parts of Saint Lucia making it more possible for everyone to enjoy. Every year the Folk Research Center of St. Lucia selects the communities to host the various activities for Creole Heritage Month.

The four communities were selected after months of community mobilization. Jounen Kweyol 2008 will be held in the communities of Canaries, Piaye, Micoud and Grand Riviere.

Great effort is placed into the festival every year and you can see the enthusiasm and passion for it in the Folk Research Center Director; Kennedy “Boots” Samuel. He said that all four communities have been mobilized and are ready to go and is an event that shouldn’t be missed.

Creole Heritage month is always celebrated in October with Jounen Kweyol being the highlighted activity. The community activities will take place on October 26th 2008.

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