8. Jounen Kweyol (Oct. 25)
(Various Villages, St. Lucia)
October has become a month to celebrate Creole language and culture, not just in the Caribbean, but in Louisiana and the Seychelles. In St. Lucia, Creole Day, or Jounen Kwéyòl, is celebrated on the last Sunday of October (as opposed to Oct. 28th elsewhere), culminating a month-long program of cultural activities across the island in which Lucians are encouraged to reconnect with the island’s past by speaking Creole, wearing traditional Creole wob, and participating in all manner of traditions disappearing everyday island life. La Marguerite Flower Festival (a feast that operates in a sort of competition with August’s La Rose Festival), the Creole Film Festival and Konpétisyon Woulélaba — in which local communities are pitted against one another in St. Lucia’s own distinct variation on cricket — and the Creole Queen Pageant are a few of the events that take place during the month. On Jounen Kwéyòl itself, designated communities across the island host a Creole Mass as well as a Creole Food and Drink Fair, while musical performers take to the streets and dancers stage traditional quadrille demonstrations. For a complete look at the events of Creole Day and Creole Month, visit St. Lucia’s Folk Research Centre here.