Saraka 2023 River Sallee, St. Patrick, Grenada | Tradition & Ancestry | Tamboo Bamboo Moko Jumbie |

You won’t regret watching this video!! It is filled with tradition and joy.

Come let us join with the people of River Sallee, St. Patrick, Grenada as they celebrate Saraka 2023. This 100 year old tradition has been passed on for generations and remains vibrant to this day.

Saraka starts 2 weeks before with the bawling of the Saraka. Residents go through the neighboring villages informing residents about the Saraka using conch shells, drums etc. This process is repeated four days before. At 5:00am on the morning of D Day the village is then notified by the blowing of a shell that it is time to start cooking food.

In the afternoon, there is a presentation of the tray, trays of food, by each group that has cooked. The trays are judjed and a winner is declared. For this year’s competition each tray had to contain rolled rice, rolled cou-cou, yard fowl, male and female dumpling, fruits, bouquet of flowers, (must include bougainvillea), a coin or $10, a bottle of rum, and a piece of red cloth.

At the River Sallee Saraka, there was a Tamboo Bamboo group playing music with pieces of bamboo and a drum. There were dancers who were accompanied by 5 excellent drummers. Of course Moko Jumbies, (stilt walkers), were part of the proceedings with their artistic dances while standing several feet in the air.

The event was not complete without the reason for most people coming. Food was shared on clean banana leaves and eaten with hands as our ancestors did.

Still watch the video. It was a great day of fun, learning, socialization, and ancestry.