May Day Jouvay 2010 – 2012

Jouvay or ‘jour overt’ (French for day opens) is a traditional carnival event that occurs at dawn in many Caribbean (and other) countries as part of their pre-Lenten celebrations. It has its roots in Africa through slavery and bears a wealth of cultural significance. Similarly, In England the First of May has pre Christian/pagan connotation celebrated through events like May Day Parades and Maypole and Morris teams dancing in the dawn.

For 2010 partners from Isle of Wight, Southampton, Portsmouth and Havant are going to use the landscape of the Solent to fuse these two traditions into a unique new celebration across the whole region - May Day Jouvay. Calypso with folk, Morris with samba, traditional parades with a contemporary slant. The possibilities for developing May Day Jouvay into a major cross-cultural project around the Solent are endless.

We anticipate the partnership will be quite small in 2010 – but the dates are perfect to get the ball rolling - May 1st in 2010 is a Saturday and dawn breaks at 05.37 in Southampton. However we want this project to grow so that in the final run up to the Olympics for May Day Jouvay 2012 the Solent will be alive with excitement, colour and creativity.

Any organisation or individual wishing to find out more or get involved contact us on info@thecarnivallearningcentre.org