Residents flocked to Hartford over the weekend for a vibrant celebration of West Indian culture that included dancing, parades, live music and lots of traditional food.
The West Indian Independence Celebration, which originally began in 1962, is an annual celebration of the state’s Caribbean community, giving countries a chance to “come out and represent.” This year’s event took place on Saturday, Aug. 10, and included people from Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The festival kicked off with a parade in front of Hartford’s Dunkin’ Park and headed down Trumbull Street, where onlookers greeted the vibrant dancers dressed in traditional Caribbean carnival costumes.
The celebration made its way to Bushnell Park in Hartford, where families relaxed in the grass, enjoyed live music and ate traditional cuisine sold by nearby vendors. There was also a carnival village, where parade dancers and masqueraders competed for best dance and costume.
Saturday’s events concluded the week-long calendar of festivities celebrating West Indian culture, which started earlier this month, with Taste CT’s Caribbean and Jerk Festival.
The West Indian Social Club of Hartford also held events throughout the week, including a flag-raising, social nights for specific islands and a panel discussion on the topic of independence.
Across Connecticut, there are tens of thousands of people with Caribbean roots. The state has one of the largest populations of people from Jamaica in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In the U.S., the Caribbean is also the biggest region of birth for Black immigrants, according to the Migration Policy Institute, which noted large-scale migration began in the early 1900s when Caribbeans started to immigrate for temporary and long-term employment opportunities and political stability.
