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Special
Events
The
week before the first Tuesday in August, summer
Carnival brings exotic costumes that recall
Antiguans' African heritage. Festivities include
a beauty competition, and calypso- and steel-band
competitions. The big event in spring is Sailing
Week in late April or early May.
Shirley
Heights
This
rambling array of gun emplacements and military
buildings is best known today for the absolutely
breathtaking prospect that it offers. From the
Heights one can look far out over English Harbour
(see picture above), and on Sunday afternoons
the view is accompanied by barbecue, rum punch,
and the plangent strains of steel band and reggae
music. The site is named for General Shirley,
Governor of the Leeward Islands when the area
was fortified in the late eighteenth century.
Close by is the cemetery, in which stands an
obelisk erected in honour of the soldiers of
the 54th regiment.
Sea
View Farm Village
Antiguan folk pottery dates back at
least to the early 18th century, when slaves
fashioned cooking vessels from local clay. Today,
folk pottery is fashioned in a number of places
around Antigua, but the center of this cottage
industry is Sea View Farm Village. The clay
is collected from pits located nearby, and the
wares are fired in an open fire under layers
of green grass in the yards of the potters'
houses. Folk pottery can be purchased at outlets
in the village as well as at a number of stores
around the island. Buyers should be aware that
Antiguan folk pottery breaks rather easily in
cold environments.
Harmony
Hall Art Gallery
Harmony Hall, in Brown's Bay at Nonsuch Bay,
is the center of the Antiguan arts community.
Exhibits change throughout the year, but the
annual highlights are the Antigua Artist's Exhibition
and the Craft Fair, both in November. The sugar
mill tower around which Harmony Hall is built
has been converted to a bar and provides its
patrons with one of the island's best panoramic
views, including a fine prospect of Nonsuch
Bay.
Museum
of Antigua and Barbuda
This charming museum tells the story of Antigua
and Barbuda from its geological birth through
the present day. A cool oasis in the middle
of St. John's, the museum contains a wide variety
of fascinating objects and exhibits, ranging
from a life-size replica of an Arawak dwelling
to the bat of Viv Richards, one of the greatest
cricket players of all time.
Monthly
Field Trips
Quarterly Newsletter
Access to excellent Research Facilities
Discounts on Items Bought at the Museum Gift
Shop
For full details, write to:
Box 103, St. John's, Antigua West Indies
Fax: (268) 462 1469
e-mail: museum@candw.ag
They entertain your research enquiries.
Links
& Sources:
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