CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. and Lt. Governor Tregenza Roach opened the St. Thomas Food, Arts and Crafts Fair on Wednesday which showcased the “growing variety and diversity of Virgin Islands culture.”
“As you walk around today you’re going to be running into all kinds of friends and family that you haven’t seen for years,” Governor Bryan said. “I think that’s one of the most beautiful parts of Carnival.”
Bryan underscored the impact a small-island family dynamic in the Virgin Islands has on our Carnivals and Festival celebrations, which bring Virgin Islanders living abroad and visitors to the Territory for each island’s unique celebration annually.
This year’s theme was “Bathe in Waters Blue,” and the 2019 fair paid homage to the Charlotte Amalie High School Class of 1972.
The annual Food Fair on St. Thomas saw hundreds of fair-goers at Emancipation Garden and the surrounding area near Fort Christian in search of foods, arts, crafts, and familiar faces.
In the year 2018, spending by visitors territory-wide generated an estimated $917,319,134; averaging $2.5 million in transactions per day.
Lt. Governor Tregenza Roach made remarks before leaving the fair early saying, “we are going to be participating in a United Nations seminar on the status of the remaining non-self-governing territories in the Caribbean and the world.
Lt. Governor Roach left the territory on Wednesday to attend the United Nations Caribbean seminar on decolonization in Grenada from May 2 to 4, 2019.
The Bryan/Roach administration said it has been encouraging residents to engage with the traditions and cultural activities of the U.S. Virgin Islands and emphasized the need for public participation at events that enrich and support the territory’s tiniest citizens at this year’s Children’s Parade.
“It is a wonderful opportunity to fellowship with friends and family,” Lt. Governor Roach said, also mentioning that Carnival in St. Thomas is always an opportunity to “welcome people to the territory.”
Listen to Governor Bryan’s remarks here.
Listen to Lt. Governor Roach’s remarks here.