Jouvert Morning 2023 in St. Thomas. Photo Credit: V.I. CONSORTIUM
ST. THOMAS — The V.I. Police Department hailed an incident-free St. Thomas Jouvert on Thursday morning in Charlotte Amalie, telling the Consortium that 6,500 people participated in this year's street festival.
Jouvert morning is one of the main and most exciting components of carnival, with revelers preparing themselves in the wee hours of the morning to join bands, and more recently jouvert troupes. In St. Thomas, the starting point for jouvert is at the Altona Bridge, with participants dancing, drinking and having a good time until the end point at the Carnival Village near the V.I. District Court. Once at the Village, a "wet fete" takes place with performances on the main stage.
Several troupes and bands participated this year as the pulsating sound of new Soca music from local and international artists filled the streets of downtown St. Thomas.
According to the V.I. Police Department, this year's celebration — the second since the Covid-19 pandemic — saw no major incidents, and the presence of law enforcement was tangible throughout. "Jouvert was well attended and the officers and everybody did an awesome job of making sure everybody was secured," stated St. Thomas Police Chief Steven Phillip. He said the police department did its job in accordance with a planned strategy to ensure that the event was safe.
As carnival comes to its final stretch with the Children's Parade set for today and the Adults Parade on Saturday, the VIPD is encouraging safety and said it will continue to provide security. "We have a couple more days for the carnival and hopefully everything goes well and everybody continues to take care of one another," Chief Phillip stated, thanking the community for what he said has so far been an outstanding job on providing the VIPD with information regarding any concerning issues. The chief also thanked several other law enforcement arms that participated in safety measures for this year's jouvert morning, including the V.I. National Guard.
The full Village lineup is here, and more carnival information can be found here.
