St. Patrick’s Week

St Patrick’s Week is a weeklong celebration highlighting Montserrat’s local culture and Irish heritage that culminates with St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 : also a commemoration of the slave uprising on that very day in 1768.

Events usually include a special service at the Catholic Church, a lecture, an exhibition, guided hikes in the forested mountains, the Freedom Run from Cudjoe Head to Salem Park, a St. Patricks Day dinner and a Junior Calypso Competition. During the weekend the St. Patrick’s Week celebrations is at Festival Village. Here there’s a simulated Slave Village with traditional local food on sale (the time-honored ‘Slave Feast’), along with a revival of traditional games from yesteryear like hand-made spinning tops, story telling, and a kite flying festival.

Local culture and music are in focus and you’ll be sure to see the Masqueraders (masked street dancers in traditional costumes, tall head dresses and whips) perform, prancing to the lively sound of fife and drum: a blend of African and European elements forged out of slavery. String band music, a traditional combination of instruments includes the banjo, ‘boompipe’, guitar, mouth organ, triangle, ‘shak shak’ and bass drum are also on show, along with steel band (steel drum) performances.