The St John Festival

St John's festival runs for about three weeks from late June and closes on the fourth of July, which means it holds two anniversaries at once: Danish emancipation, proclaimed on the third of July 1848 after enslaved people on St Croix forced the issue, and American independence the following day. The village opens in Cruz Bay with food booths and nightly music, a food fair fills the town, there are boat races in the harbour, a beauty pageant, and the parade on the fourth with troupes, moko jumbies and floats through the streets of a town small enough that the parade nearly meets itself.

The main sights

• The parade - on the fourth of July through Cruz Bay.
• The food fair - local cooking across the town.
• The boat races - in Cruz Bay harbour.
• Emancipation Day - marked on the third, the day before.

When to go

The festival runs from late June to the fourth of July, with the last few days the busiest. Accommodation on St John is limited and books out well ahead. Many visitors stay on St Thomas and take the ferry across.

Things to know

St John is small and the festival fills it completely; parking is impossible, accommodation books out months ahead and ferry queues are long on parade day. Village nights run very late and Cruz Bay is loud. Programme details are published locally and change.

Nearby

Cruz Bay is the venue; ferries run from Red Hook on St Thomas.