RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA

rad­hi­ca.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

San Fer­nan­di­ans held their own In­de­pen­dence Day Street pa­rade on Wednes­day, pay­ing trib­ute to lo­cal icons.

The pa­rade was or­gan­ised by the group Ladies and Gents of San Fer­nan­do City.

Spokesper­son Celia Bar­nett-Pe­ter­son said the event was re­fresh­ing, as the pa­rade fo­cused on com­mu­ni­ty and cul­ture.

Par­tic­i­pants of the pa­rade in­clud­ed the Cub Scouts, Girl Guides, Red Cross, Arawak Dance group, T&T Cha­co­nia Per­form­ers and Ju­nior Bis­nath’s skilled cadre of moko jumbies.

The beau­ti­ful­ly dressed rev­ellers jour­neyed from the Cre­ative Arts Cen­tre to Roy­al Road, Leroy Cal­liste Street and then to the Har­ris Prom­e­nade, where a green health ex­po was held.

Spec­ta­tors were al­lowed to pur­chase and sell agro-processed prod­ucts, dry prod­ucts and pro­vi­sions.

Long-stand­ing po­lit­i­cal ac­tivist and for­mer Cul­ture Min­is­ter un­der the Patrick Man­ning regime, Joan Yuille-Williams, said she was pleased with the event.

“I am pleased to be with col­leagues to wish peo­ple a hap­py 60th an­niver­sary,” she added.

Tri­cia Ram­roop went with her fam­i­ly and ex­pressed ap­pre­ci­a­tion to the or­gan­is­ers.

Rose­marie Gra­ham-Gomes, who went with her grand­chil­dren, said she hoped the event would get greater pub­lic sup­port.

An­oth­er spec­ta­tor, Saman­tha Paul-Gopaul, said de­spite the low turnout, she was thrilled.

“I’m very ex­cit­ed, I nev­er ex­pe­ri­enced this in San Fer­nan­do be­fore,” she added.

The fes­tiv­i­ties end­ed with a fire­works dis­play.