Monday, May 20th was observed as Whit Monday – a public holiday in Anguilla. In recent times, the holiday has been marked by a festive coming-together of community folk from all walks of life, descending on the quaint village of Welches for the annual Welches Village Fest.
It is an exhibit of certain aspects of the old-fashioned way of life in Anguilla, and focuses on traditional food, and some good old frolic and fun. It also highlights traditional cultural toys which were used by the youngsters of yesteryear.
According to one of the prime organizers, Joseph Vanterpool, this year’s Welches Fest was a magnificent success, and the ambiance really captured the spirit of fiesta while savouring great traditional foods. The day progressed with specific dishes filling particular slots of time.
“The 16th annual staging of the Welches Fest took place on Monday, May 20th, and indeed it was a great success,” Joseph Vanterpool said. “There were a record number of persons who came out to the venue at the Fredrick Harrigan Playing Field to enjoy themselves. Throughout the entire course of the day, the field was bustling with action and laughter and music filled the air.”
“People came for their goodies from very early in the morning,” Joseph continued. “We featured delicious johnny cakes, flour-pap, guinea corn porridge, stink weed coffee, the famous butcher bits, head ‘n foot soup, yard fowl soup, chicken soup and pea soup with salt pork.”
He said it was amazing to see how quickly the butcher bits finished at the busy stalls, noting that they would normally cook two big pots of the delicacy, but this year they cooked four pots, and still it was not enough to share. People poured in all day long, looking for more. Butcher bits is a savoury stew made from scraps of meat, liver as well as the blood, all combined to make an appealing traditional dish – old fashioned gourmet style.
Joseph listed other traditional delicacies such as the famous sham, potato pudding, conkie dumpling, pumpkin bread, banana bread, tarts, cherry jam, tamarind jam and other goodies.
“Some of the highlights of the day included the “Cook Off,” he said. “This involved a competition consisting of three chefs, who were given mystery baskets, and they were required to produce a dish on the old time ‘three fire rocks’.”
“This activity created quite an exciting buzz from the vast crowd,” Joseph noted. “The competing chefs were Carla Hughes, Sheldon Brown and Alfred Wilson. The three judges were renowned local culinary personalities, George Reid, Albert Lake and Dale Carty. The judges ranked Karla Hughes as the “Cook Off” winner.”
He said there was also a conkie eating contest. Craig Clark took first place, eating three conkies and a big bottle of mauby. Other participants in this competition were Angie Lake-Joseph and Laurel Richardson. The conkies where prepared by Catherine Emanuel.
Kite making was done by Mr. Clemvio Hodge. Other traditional toys exhibited included rollers and killibands. Nickers, marbles and cherry nuts were on display as well.
Entertainment was provided by Tap and the Scratch Band; Tuk and the Boys; Boss and the Horsepower Band; and performances were staged by the group Calypsonians United.
“All in all, it was a very great day,” Joseph reported. “The weather was great, there was a massive crowd, and everyone enjoyed themselves.”
The Welches Village Fest is an annual feature staged primarily by the Vanterpool siblings of Welches, who are careful to keep the rich cultural heritage preserved in their Welches neighbours, and within their cultural homestead.
The organising committee of the Welches Village Fest would like to acknowledge and thank sponsors the Anguilla Tourist Board; MAICO; FLOW; Department of Youth and Culture; Cap Juluca, a Belmond Hotel; Merchants Market; BEP Services; Quest; What We Do In Anguilla; and Greig’s Trucking Services.
