The lifelong lessons of Anancy

... Festival to highlight Jamaican culture takes place in Kingston and Florida

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

Intent on exposing children and teenagers to aspects of West Indian culture, the Anancy Festival will be held in Florida and Kingston next week.

Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, one of the organisers of the event, Kellie Magnus, explained that the event started in Florida in 2008 but is being held in Jamaica for the first time.

She said it was started because an organisation there wanted "all our West Indian children to reconnect with their culture and Anancy. It is important to do it here so that this generation can get exposed to Anancy."

The event will be held simultaneously at St Andrew Parish Library, Kingston, and in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on June 11 between 2 and 6 p.m. There will be storytelling, short films, Anancy exhibitions, face-painting, music, dance and books about Anancy will also be on sale. There will also be a live simulcast from Florida that will be shown in Jamaica, and vice versa.

While all the components of the festival will play a significant role, Magnus said the live storytelling will be very powerful.

"I think there is a really powerful aspect to hearing a story told in person," she told The Sunday Gleaner.

One of the storytellers will be Amina Blackwood Meeks, who Magnus witnessed in action at the Asante Adonai Literary Lyme in St Ann recently.

"She didn't have any props or big TV screen. She had about two dozen children in awe. But each medium has its power," she said.

Hopes for the event

While the target audience includes children and teenagers, Magnus hopes adults will attend. For those who will be attending the event for the first time, she said it will be an opportunity for them to be introduced to Anancy. For others who have already been exposed, she said she hopes they will gain a greater appreciation for that aspect of the Jamaican culture.

Although this is her first time being part of the event, Magnus said the previous stagings in Florida were always well supported.

"From what I've heard, they have had a great turnout and it is something that the community looks forward to. I hope that will be the case in Jamaica as well," she told The Sunday Gleaner.

But prior to the staging of Anancy Festival on Saturday, Magnus says she plans to attend Anancy Chaptaz today (Sunday).

"I think it's great. I love to see where a new generation put their spin on something that is a large part of our culture," she said.

Magnus added that she will be tackling aspects of the Jamaican culture in two children's book that she will be publishing soon. The books are I Love Jamaica (an activity book) and Adventures In Books, which she hopes will encourage children to read.