From gospel came the blues and a century later to the Grenadines came the Mustique Blues Festival. No sadness in these two weeks of exciting energetic performances by world renowned musicians hosted by blues diva, Dana Gillespie, in the congenial atmosphere of Basil’s Bar, Mustique. Like its host island, the festival can be full of surprises; are there stars in the audience who will join those on stage? From Mustique the festival travels to Saint Vincent via Bequia, where only the waters are blue.

 

Nine Mornings is a unique Vincentian festivity associated with the Christmas season. Nine Mornings before Christmas, Vincentians awake in the early hours of the morning and partake in a range of activities, among them sea baths, dances (or in local parlance, fetes), bicycle riding and street concerts. 

The origins of this festival are clouded in some mystery, although the original tradition relates it to the ‘novena’ of the Catholic Church on the nine days before Christmas. It is believed that after the early morning church services of the Catholics, worshippers began walking the streets, while others went for sea baths. From this the popular Nine Mornings festivity emerged. Although popular opinion has this practice as starting during the period of slavery, it was more likely to have been a post-emancipation practice.