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Jounen Kwéyòl (Creole day) Saint Lucia



YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au6RhY2K-DI

Creole Heritage Month is a celebration of the melting pot that is French Creole culture. Jounen Kwéyòl promises a day filled with traditional food, music, folklore and the chance to discover the history and heritage of the island. It's a nostalgic reminder of all the elements that contribute to the identity of Saint Lucians and those countries that share in the creole culture. 

Jounen Kwéyòl (Creole Day) is celebrated on the last Sunday of October across the entire island of Saint Lucia. Various towns are chosen to host this exciting festival which has been taking place since 1984 and is now in its 32nd year. Jounen Kwéyòl is yet to be embraced as a major tourism draw.


YouTube: https://youtu.be/miZ40XHI0Y4



Jounen Kwéyòl celebration at Windjammer Landing

As you drive around the various communities, signs of the the festival will be evident. 
People will be dressed up in colourful garments. The traditional ‘jupe’ – an outfit of a colourful madras skirt worn with a broderie anglaise blouse, white cotton or poplin embroidered with white flowers and decorated with red satin ribbons. The headpiece – the‘tete-en-l’air’ is made of madras. The foulard, a triangular piece of satin worn on the shoulder, completes the outfit.

Flamboyant Folk Dancers

People enjoy traveling to out of the way communities to relive traditions such as old lumberjack techniques used long before the invention of the chainsaw.
Women sweat over boiling cauldrons of farine, the refined product of the cassava root.
 The old time cricket called‘walaba’ on display with slightly skewed rules to the regular game.

Join in the celebrations and sample traditional Saint Lucian cuisine which includes foods such as:

  • Roast breadfruit, 
  • Green fig and salt fish (The National Dish of Saint Lucia), 
  • Plantain, 
  • Fish broth, king fish, 
  • Manicou (opossum), 
  • Souse, 
  • Fried bake and floats, 
  • Accra/fish cake, 
  • Paime/penmei (otherwise known as Conkies) 
  • Bouillon served in calabash bowls fashioned from the fruit of the calabash tree.
  • Farine and avocado
  • Lobster
  • Smoked herring
  • Crab callaloo 
  • Cocoa tea
  • Bay leaf tea
  • Fruit juices


Green fig and salt fish

Drums are beaten throughout as people speak the creole language and have a merry time..



Go out and experience culture, Saint Lucian style!

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