Tobago: Buccoo Crab and Goat Race Festival celebrates 96 years, promotes sport heritage

Tobago: The 96^th edition of the Buccoo Crab and Goat Race Festival took place on Easter Tuesday, at the Bucco Integrated Facility, Tobago. In the perfect display of the culture, music and dance, the festival brought the racers of goats and crabs to one place from across the globe and celebrated the sports heritage.

Under the title, ”Welcome to the Circus,” the festival started with the goat and crab races between the attendees and concluded with the street parade, showcasing the vibrant cultural offerings of Tobago. The parade was started from Caribbean Cornerstones Supermarket and ended at the integrated facility.

Beginning at 12:30 pm, the parade featured the performances of the carnival and folklore characters who were judged by the patrons. The Healing with Horses also enhanced the celebration in the parade and entertained the audience.

Further, the headliner Road March winner and Young King Mical Teja sang his popular song DNA and enhanced the culture segment of the festival. Other performers such as Tobago Heritage monarch Garve Sandy, Erphaan Alves, Wadicks, Rhythm Babes, Scarborough RC speech band and NLCB Buccaneers also showcased the musical landscape of the country.

However, the festival also faced a delay of two hours due to rains and disturbed weather and made patrons wait for the race to start. Goat racers and trainers competed in the competition with their animals and completed the race.

Due to the rain, the authorities have started the formal part of the race about 30 minutes later and parade also featured the delayed of more than 3 hours.

The authorities also extended gratitude to the people, racers and organizers for their tireless work to clear up the spill from part of Tobago’s southwester coast. They added that the festival deemed a great success as patrons enjoyed the races of the goats and crabs.

Further, the festival is considered a celebration of the shared heritage which encouraged the people to embrace their past generation and realise their commitment towards resilience. It is also taken as the identity of Tobago which is hosted just to preserve the heritage.

The festival was started 96 years ago by Sonny Murray who provided great attention to these types of races. Since its launch, the festival became the top event during the holidays of Easter, aiming to realize the true essence of Tobago with the remembrance of the Jesus Christ.

Notably, the 100 million dollar Buccoo Integrated Facility was also specially designed to host the festival and it was established in 2010 and since then the patrons are enjoying the cultural showcase in the facility.