For the younger folk or those who don’t know, the calabash grows on a tree and is spherical or ball-shaped. It has a woody hard outside and a pulpy inside, which has to be removed. It is referred to as a fruit although it is not eatable. The calabash can be anything from a few inches to more than a foot across.

On Montserrat, the volcanic island’s Hospitality Association put the traditional and cultural significance of the calabash to good use this summer by mounting Montserrat’s first ever Calabash Festival.

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer was a special guest at some of the Festival events. He was invited over by Montserrat’s Chief Minister Dr Lowell Lewis and was enthusiastic about the events he attended.

President of the Hospitality Association, Florence Griffith Joseph, explained that the July Calabash Festival was intended to liven up the quiet summer months on the island and serve as an attraction for visitors. “We have teamed up with the Montserrat Tourist Board and hope to make this an annual event”, she said. “It will be a focal point for locals as well as drawing tourists in the summer”.

Speaking about the calabash, special guest speaker Professor J A George Irish said, “Its sturdiness, durability, utility, productivity, musicality, adaptability to night and day or to sun and rain, and its propensity to inspire craftsmanship, are all defining qualities that can enrich community life and outlook if its lessons are discerned and embraced”. Professor Irish is a distinguished Montserratian academic who is head of Caribbean and Latin American Studies at the Medgar Evers College at New York State University. He is also Chancellor of the People’s University in Panama.

Festival events included an exhibition of items made from the calabash as well as a Cultural Expo of performing arts, a lecture symposium named after Professor Irish, a food fair, and an informal festival “lime” with entertainment, drinks and music. An ecumenical church service held to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of the volcanic activity, still ongoing, marked the start of the Festival, while the official opening took place at the Exhibition, after the Festival had actually started.

Calabash exhibition
The calabash exhibition was a high point of the week’s activities, and also served as the official opening of the Festival. Here one could see calabashes of all shapes and sizes from Montserrat, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Guadeloupe, and (via Guadeloupe) from West Africa.

Crafts people had carved, painted or varnished these calabashes to create a host of imaginative or traditional items. These included musical instruments, ornaments, decorations, cups and bowls, handbags, jewelry,  “shak -shak” or maracas, doll puppets, a mask, African religious symbols and even a baby bath.

The exhibition was held at the Montserrat National Trust, a forty year old non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the past, protecting the present and enriching the future. Director of the Trust Lady Eudora Fergus said, “We are delighted to have this exhibition here at the Trust. The calabash is a traditional item which forms part of our history, and the exhibits show the versatility of our Caribbean craftsmen, both now and in the past”.

Collectors Aubert and Sonny Tancons of Guadeloupe provided calabash exhibits from French speaking West Africa. These included musical instruments like water drums, shak-shak, balaphone and kora (a guitar-like instrument), as well as many ceremonial and practical items. “We have so many West African calabash items, it was impossible to bring them all”, said Mme Tancons, who is a tour guide in Guadeloupe.

The Trust was also home to another current exhibition, originally set up for St Patrick’s week celebrations in March. This exhibit features a life-sized, old-time Wowla House, made from wood with a thatched roof, depicting the homes of ordinary people in the past, together with traditional household objects. The calabash exhibition was set up next to this exhibit, and the two themes fitted very well together, as several visitors pointed out.

Cultural Expo
Another high point of the Festival was the Cultural Expo, featuring local and regional performing arts. The Expo took place at Good Life restaurant and night club, which perches on a hillside overlooking Little Bay and the island’s Festival Village.

There were performances by the versatile Junior Steelband, led by their dedicated tutor, Director of Culture and former teacher Herman “Cupid” Francis. Another young group was the Emerald Shamioles, Montserrat’s junior masquerades. A traditional, lively and colourful aspect of Montserrat’s culture, masquerades feature brightly coloured costumes, tall head-gear, masks and whips, and perform traditional steps to the sound of “fife” and drums. This young group is helping to keep the historic tradition alive.

Also featured in the Expo were Pat “Belonger” Ryan and her guests from Guadeloupe Aubert and Sony Tancons, who performed in song and poetry, using guitar and saxaphone together with African calabash percussion instruments shak-shak and water drums. “Belonger”  sang “Calabash”, a song she wrote for the Junior Calypso Competition, which she helps to organize during St Patrick’s Week every year.

“Voices” choral group performed with the verve and attention to detail for which they are famed, starting with “Gimme me soup ‘na one calabash”. The group performed these songs, accompanied by actions, around a pot of soup “cooking” on a traditional coal pot, with a calabash bowl for each singer.

Dance Excel, a keen young dance group taught by dedicated and innovative teacher Natalie Allen, gave a lively performance to the traditional market song “Bring your money and come”, and there were calypsoes and other songs to wrap up the evening.

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer expressed his pleasure at being at the Expo and praised the performers, especially the choral group Voices. “I have been listening to them closely, and plan to invite them to Antigua’s independence celebrations”, he said.

Prime Minister Spencer also emphasized the close relationship between Antigua and Montserrat. “Montserrat’s construction workers helped to build our island”, he said, while promising continued cooperation and support to Montserrat.

Lecture Symposium
Special guest at the Lecture Symposium was Professor Irish.  In the 1970’s Professor Irish headed the University Centre here in Montserrat. While there he co-founded the Emerald Community Singers, a folk choral group who are now in their thirty-fifth year, as well as dance and drama groups. He was a prolific writer of social commentary, poetry and other writings. He also dipped into politics and unsuccessfully ran for election, before leaving for the United States. Now the lecture series, of which this was the first, has been named after him.

Professor Irish explained that earliest knowledge of the calabash comes from the Amerindians, known as Tainos or Arawaks, who used and disseminated the calabash for centuries from tribe to tribe, attaching ceremonial value to the tree and its fruit in their music and religious rituals.

“With the disappearance of the Tainos after the incursion of the Europeans, the Africans and poor white indentured workers adopted their unique instruments and integrated them into the percussion family that has become so uniquely Caribbean” Irish said. “The calabash therefore cuts across races and ethnicities to build national bridges of understanding”.

“Out of circumstances of poverty may emerge a creative energy and vitality…… the culture of the poor can be rich in folklore, religious faith, oral history, oral narratives, literature, painting, sculpture, carving, arts and crafts, performing arts, costume design and community theater”, he said.

This calabash event, according to the professor, invites us to reflect on the meaning, challenges and opportunities offered by the symbolism of the calabash.  “We may celebrate the diversity of forms in which the fruit is popularly used, as well as the creative forms that our artists utilize to enhance its utility and national significance”.

He stressed the importance of exploring the role of the calabash in Montserrat’s history and cultural development, as well as the symbolic value of both the calabash and the Festival in terms of cultural nationalism. “It is equally important for our artists to identify the features of the calabash that are uniquely Montserratian to justify its national symbolism”, he said.

Also taking part in the Symposium were businessman and former senior civil servant Kenny Cassell, and former Chief Minister, economist and builder Reuben Meade.

Presentations covered the cultural, economic and social aspects of the calabash. After the presentations there was a lively discussion from the floor, and the entire symposium was recorded and aired on Radio Montserrat.

Emerald Community Singers
The Emerald Community Singers, a folk and choral group co-founded by Professor Irish, also put on a lively performance at the Calabash Festival. The performance was a preview of their show “One night -- a week in the Caribbean”, which they went on to perform on a tour of Yorkshire in the UK.

This tour was intended not only to bring a taste of Montserrat’s culture to Britain, but also to raise funds for the new Girl Guides headquarters to be built on the island. The Yorkshire Guides have been supporting this effort with fundraising activities for the project.

The lively and colourful show featured activities for each day of the week  -- worship on Sunday, love and romance on Monday, and so on, finishing with calypso and reggae on Saturday.

Food Fair
Food from several Caribbean countries represented on Montserrat formed the Food Fair, which took place in the grounds of the Tropical Mansion Suites Hotel. This hotel was built a few years after the volcanic activity started by the Galloways, an enterprising local family whose members designed, built and now manage this attractive hotel.

Countries showing off their food included Montserrat, Guyana, Jamaica, Dominica, Haiti, the Dominical Republic, and India, all of which have communities on island. Here one could chose from traditional soup in a calabash, Montserrat’s local dish goatwater, Jamaican jerk chicken and pork, and several other tasty dishes. Goatwater is a tasty goat stew with lots of gravy, traditionally served on festive occasions with a bread roll.

Ferry cancellation
With this Festival the calabash seems to have found its rightful place, and has revived many memories as well as being an eye-opener for the younger folk. The only disappointment was the cancellation of the ferry trip from St Kitts and Antigua, planned especially for the Festival. Montserrat has a brand new airport with four flights per day, but is missing the twice daily (British subsided) ferry that plied between Montserrat and Antigua after the old airport was destroyed by the volcano.

In spite of this disappointment, most people were pleased with the Calabash Festival, and the revived interest in the calabash is a positive sign for the future. It is also a good opportunity to encourage regional Caribbean tourism instead of the usual concentration on tourism from overseas.

Montserrat’s other festivals
Montserrat has two major festivals, the year-end Festival in December and the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in March. The year-end Festival is the equivalent of carnival on other Caribbean islands, and features calypso and Festival Queen contests, traditional masquerades, costumed troupe competition, as well as drama, choral singing, dance, steelpan, and the popular “jump ups”. The climax is the colourful parade of troupes on New Year’s Day.

St Patrick’s Day commemorates the slave rebellion on that day many years ago as well as the island’s Irish heritage, and is expanded into a week of cultural activities. These include the Freedom Run road race, the slave village with traditional foods and games, the junior calypso competition organized by the Montserrat Union of Teachers,  and other cultural and fun events.

There’s even a Breadfruit Festival, which is held in September and features a variety of breadfruit dishes which compete for prizes in several categories. This year a breadfruit peeling competition and a breadfruit eating competition were added.

Now the Calabash Festival has been added to the calendar. “Such a festival should stimulate our mental faculties, and really challenge us to see how as a nation we will develop our people to explore the difficulties and challenges and find the opportunities,” said Permanent Secretary Alric Taylor, who chaired the symposium. 

“With the support … of the entire Montserrat community as well as the diaspora,” he said, “We could sustain this initiative, see it grow and flourish into a world class event right here in Montserrat”.