Celebrate St Patrick’s Day Montserrat style

The Caribbean island of Montserrat is the only country besides Ireland to celebrate St Patrick’s Day as a national holiday. In fact, a whole week of events takes place on the island to mark the occasion.
 
This year the celebrations begin on March 13th and continue until March 20th 2010. Visitors are welcomed to the island to experience and celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Montserrat style.
 
Events taking place during the week include the annual St Patrick’s dinner at the Montserrat Cultural Centre; a Freedom Run to commemorate an eighteenth century slave uprising; an island pub crawl starting at Garry Moore’s Wide Awake Bar; and a Heritage Day and feast in Festival Village, with local food, music, dances, games and the heritage day Jamboree.
 
The week-long festival encompasses everything Montserrat has to offer including entertainment, legend and folklore, sight-seeing tours, cultural exhibitions and much more, making it one of the most popular times of year for overseas visitors.
 
St Patrick’s Day is celebrated on Montserrat to remember the island’s Irish Heritage which dates back to the 17th century. The Irish connections are still evident today from the moment visitors arrive on the island and receive their shamrock passport stamp. During the St Patrick’s Day festival, visitors will notice many locals wearing national dress – in which green is the dominant colour – and both Guinness and ‘Green’ Heineken are available in bars alongside the customary rum punch cocktails.

The festival is more accessible than ever this year with the return of a regular ferry service between Antigua and Montserrat and improved flight connections with two airlines now offering scheduled services on the route. As well as widening the choice for holidaymakers to Montserrat, this also means that those staying in Antigua can hop across to Montserrat for a day-trip or short break to also participate in the St Patrick’s Week of Activities.
 
For more information about the celebrations, log on to visitmontserrat.com.