Jouvay and the Parade

At 4am on July 4th, a big truck covered in speakers starts its journey through Love City (Cruz Bay, St John) blasting island dance music for several hours as people follow it through the streets in a dance party. This is Jouvay and is a caribbean tradition, celebrating in a similar way, once a year on each island in the caribbean.

At about 10am that day, the parade starts and that too runs for a few hours. The parade has baton twirlers, dancers, steel drum bands, mocko jumbies (stilt walkers), dazzling costumes, a lot of alochol (some floats even hand it out for free as they pass), fancy cars, and a great time for onlookers and participants alike.