Launching the Christmas season on the big island, St. Croix’s storied carnival troupes will strut their stuff at noon Thanksgiving Day for a "Carnival Meets the Runway Troupe Launching" at D.C. Canegata Recreational Center, according to the St. Croix Carnival website.
On Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., Herbert Grigg Home for the Aged will see its own mini-carnival. This is the fifth year of the Herbert Grigg Home partnering with the Crucian Carnival committee and residents look forward to the festivities.
Local soca bands will go head to head in preliminary competition to see who will be this year’s soca monarch on Dec. 12 on the Christiansted Boardwalk.
Two j’ouverts are planned this year: one at 5 a.m. Dec. 13 in Christiansted starting at Bassin Triangle and another regular j’ouvert at 5 a.m. Jan. 1 starting at Hannah’s Rest and marching through Frederiksted.
While not a part of the official carnival, the hugely popular St. Croix boat parade, with its gaily lit vessels and wildly enthusiastic crowds, is not to be missed Dec. 13. Festivities will begin at 1 p.m. in Christiansted on the boardwalk and the parade will start at 6 p.m. The parade will end with a firework display.
Dec. 14 young Carnival princess contestants will compete for their tiaras at 3 p.m. at Island Center. Calypso eliminations are the same day and time at Gertrude’s Restaurant.
The Miss St. Croix Pageant will follow a week later Dec. 21 at Island Center. Tickets are available at Armstrong’s Ice Cream, Urban Threadz and Classic Style Boutique.
On Dec. 26 the Frederiksted Festival Village will open on the grounds adjacent to the Paul E. Joseph baseball stadium with food booths, merchants, carnival rides and games.
Dec. 27, Soca Monarch finals will be held in the in the carnival village.
The annual food fair, with all manner of local pastries, cookies, candies and hot foods, will begin at noon Dec. 30 around the Eliza McBean Clock Tower next to the historic Fort Frederick in Freedom City Frederiksted.
New Year’s Day is packed with action, starting with j’ouvert in Frederiksted at 5 a.m.; Calypso Monarch finals at Island Center and Latin Night in the carnival village.
But the festivities are far from over then, with the Children’s Parade marching through Frederiksted during the day and Reggae Night in the village on Jan. 2.
The main event, the all-day Adult Parade, will wind through Frederiksted Jan. 3. Then official Carnival events come to a close with a special Old Time Calypso Night at the village.
