It happens every year around this time. Stores stay open long after the last cruise ship sounds its horn to signal the end of a day. Steel pan music fills the air, decorative lights brighten the streets and alleyways, and people by the thousands flock to downtown Charlotte Amalie, transformed into a pedestrian paradise.
It's known as the Miracle on Main Street, and it's how the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce celebrates the holidays. Now in its ninth year, the event is scheduled for Friday.
"This year the committee is going to great extremes to insure a truly wonderful event," said Chamber executive director, Joe Aubain. A full day of activities begins at 7 a.m. with the opening of a farmer's market and crafts fair at the Rothschild Francis "Market" Square. It ends with a bang; a lighted boat parade in the Charlotte Amalie harbor at 9 p.m.
"We're really excited to have the farmer's market and the boat parade for the first time this year," said Priscilla Hintz, event chairperson. She said they expect to have at least 12 boats participating in what in the past has been an annual Christmas light contest among a small group of boaters. The boats will parade from Frenchtown to the Coast Guard dock and back around.
Main Street will be closed to traffic from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. to allow for entertainment; local bands, mocko jumbies and cultural dancers, who will perform throughout the day and into the evening. Children can enjoy chalk drawing on the street and a booth set up by Kids in Business, a group of young entrepreneurs vending toys, balloons and painting faces. In the evening hours, there will be a visit from a special Caribbean Santa. Downtown stores will stay open until 9 p.m.
People can look forward to performances by the Interdenominational Choir and Antilles Bell Choir at Emancipation Gardens. The V.I. Housing Authority Steel Band, BCB Burning Blazers and Montessori Meteors are a few of the youth steel pan groups who will perform on Main Street. Also, look out for all-time favorites Milo's Kings, Imagi and the Mungo Niles Cultural Dancers.
The event is sponsored by "The Best Beers in the World" distributed by Bellows International.
For more information, contact the Chamber at 776-0100.