Accompong Maroon Festival
OFF
When:
February 6, 2014 – February 7, 2014 all-day
2014-02-06T10:00:00+00:00
2014-02-07T10:00:00+00:00
Where:
Accompong
Saint Elizabeth Parish
Jamaica
Saint Elizabeth Parish
Jamaica
The Accompong Maroon Festival is celebrated with gusto by the Maroons of Western Jamaica, the descendants of runaway slaves. They gather every year in Accompong to mark their victory over the British with a day of festivities.
There is traditional dancing, singing, blowing of the abeng – a cow horn – and the playing of Maroon drums. The men typically take charge of the cooking and no salt is used. Non-Maroons are welcome and the celebrations have been known to go on for as long as three or four days.
Cudjoe was the leader of the Maroons and it was his defeat of the British that led to the rebel group being granted self-government and being given the lands they already inhabited.