April 27, 2009 — Amid cool gusts that kept colored streamers beating in the wind like applause, Carnival 2009 crossed the point of no return Monday night with the long-awaited opening of Carnival Village in the Fort Christian parking lot.
Invoking the long tradition of annual drumming and dancing in the Virgin Islands, Gov. John deJongh Jr. opened the night by asking Carnival revelers to take care of each other and keep the celebration safe.
"This is a chance for us to show the best of St. Thomas and the best of the Virgin Islands," he said to a somewhat subdued early crowd just after 6 p.m. Monday.
Music pounded all night under the thin smile of a waxing moon as vendors poured drinks and dished out Caribbean fare — from Roti to seafood soup, flying fish to johnny cakes. The party continues at Carnival Village, the epicenter of the week's festivities, every night through Saturday till 2 a.m.
This year's Village honors Rosalind Parrott-Titley, St. Thomas native and chef-proprietor of Chummy's Culinary Kitchen, one of some 30 vendors that line the village perimeter.
Although the crowd on opening night was cautiously light, a few of the vendors made out big. The line for flying fish at the Barbados Association booth was already 60 people deep by 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday night Village entertainment will include the Tortola-based fungi band the Lashing Dogs.
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