The participants in Crucian Christmas Festival Adult’s Parade Saturday appeared to be having as much fun as the spectators. Smiles beamed from faces all along the route as if, for a while, everyone was able to forget their problems.
“Everyone is having a good time," Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett said as she gave season’s greetings on King Street. "I think it’s great that we have floats from other islands this year,” she added in reference to a troupe from Vieques that had passed just a short time earlier.
Sen. Sammuel Sanes was also enjoying himself on the route.
“It is a great parade. I am having a great time,” he said.
The parade started at about half past noon, a bit earlier than it has in some previous years, and followed the traditional route, from Claude O. Markoe School, down King Street, to the Festival Village area. The parade was winding down with the last group of revelers approaching the reviewing stand well before sunset.
Local artist Lauren Baccus participated in the parade for the first time Saturday, and at the end of the route she was ready for more.
“It was amazing to be part of this tradition and share something, a vision of my own. I’m already planning for next year,” she said.
As usual, the music was loud, the costumes colorful with sequins, glitter, gems and feathers, and the dancing just this side of erotic.
Plaskett said that there were fewer entries in the parade this year than in previous years; however, the crowd seemed as big and as exuberant as any of the crowds in the last dozen years. Keeping with tradition, the Rising Stars steel pan band contributed its pulsating beat, the Gentlemen of Jones contributed its humor and the Guardians of Culture exhibited its mocko jumbie skills.
The participants in the parade emphasized the diversity of St. Croix. They ranged in backgrounds as different as, say, Sen. Positive Nelson and Stacia Jung, who runs Sugar Mill Veterinary Center.
For those who could not make it to Frederiksted, WTJX had live streaming of the parade on the internet.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story was edited to correct an error in the listed schedule of events. The Source regrets the error.
