The La Rose festival of St Lucia

One of the very interesting traditional festivals that still exist in the Caribbean has its grand performance at the end of August each year.  This is the La Rose (Lawoz) of St Lucia, a folk performance that belongs to a number of different theatrical traditions and social phenomena and is practised in many villages in the island.  A significant factor that is relatively little known is that Lawoz has existed for many generations in Guyana as part of a linguistic, cultural and family connection with St Lucia.

La Rose is the Festival of the Rose, and Lawoz is the name used by its French Creole or Patois speaking practitioners.  This name may be literally translated as ‘the rose’ from the patois or Kweol (Creole language).  This is the first language of most St Lucians who perpetuate the festival, and Kweol is one of the names they use for the language. (Kweol dictionaries have been published.)

This rose festival may be classified in a number of ways in folk traditions.  It is a calendar festival – meaning it is held at a particular date each year, and in most cases, this date has some significance.  It is a theatrical and a performance tradition because it is practised through the performance of things using masquing, dance, mime, play-acting and costume.  It is street theatre because on the