MARIGOT: --- Scores of Guadeloupians turned out to be part of Chantie Nawoel which was held on Saturday night on the Marigot Waterfront; the second annual event which is held for singers to bring back the Christmas season. Chantie Nawoel is only of the events scheduled for the month of December. This year the Kasika Creole Band from Guadeloupe performed the mostly Creole Christmas carols to entertain the Guadeloupian community on St. Martin. The event which was meant for the general public did not see the same amount of people as that of last year.
The show which was scheduled to start at 7pm got underway after 9pm. The first sets of singers were those locally which were sponsored by the Lions Club under the leadership of Angel Dormoy in partnership with the St. Martin Tourist Office.
The Kasika group took the stage shortly after 9:30pm; the group of 30 singers colorfully dressed in their national wear quickly captured the crowd participation that began singing and dancing as they sing.
Having a good time were the recently hired sets of Guadeloupians that were hired by the Collectivity of St. Martin. Even though enjoying themselves some of them were conscious of the camera lens as they did not want their photos taken for the people of St. Martin to see how at home they are in the dying economy of French St. Martin.
However, there were boots selling mostly local and Creole food and rum punches. On sale was the newest CD of the Kasika band.
Another scene in Marigot that could not miss the naked eyes is the fact that most restaurants were close by 9pm even though the island is already in its high season.
The Collectivity made every effort to decorate the city with expensive and colorful Christmas lights ranging through the main streets all over the French side. Despite looking good at night it remains a ghost town since no one is interested in being in Marigot where crime is at its highest during the night time. While it is known that the world is facing an economic down turn these past months, this has been the case for Marigot over the last years. Instead of getting better it seems as if more businesses will close their doors at the beginning of the new year.
One resident said even though beautiful he felt the idea of decorating the island is for the people to drown their despair and fear during the end of year festivities.
