Sand, sun, fun and exciting boat racing sum up the final weekend of the Petite Martinique Whitsuntide Regatta Festival 2022. The weekend of Friday 3rd – Monday 6th June climaxed the Petite Martinique Whitsuntide Regatta festivals with four days of cultural and traditional performances, dances, various categories of boat racing, onshore activities, and live artiste performances.

This year’s regatta attracted scores of Grenadians living in the diaspora, Vincentians, Carriacouans and mainlanders. The weekend kicked off with a welcome ceremony on the Tennis Court followed by traditional flambeau dance, led by Hon. Kindra Stewart, Parliamentary Representative for Carriacou and Petite Martinique. The welcome ceremony continued throughout the night with other cultural dances and performances.

The energy continued into Saturday morning as sailors readied their boats for all-day racing. While these races took place, onshore spectators participated in various activities. Saturday’s activities did not end there, in fact, Saturday night revellers were treated to live performances from Lil Jello, Dash, Terra the Governor and Octane the band who all travelled from mainland, Grenada.

Sunday was not short of excitement, as boat races and onshore activities continued. On Monday morning, revellers took to the beach for the famous Petite Martinique J’ouvert, liberally expressing themselves in a carnival-like atmosphere. By Sunday, many would think that revellers, spectators, and boatmen would be tired but that was not the case, as the festivity continued with more exciting onshore activities and boat racing. The curtain was brought down on Monday night with the closing and awards ceremony.

This year, Ariza Credit Union celebrates its 75th Anniversary, under the theme, “75 Years of Transforming Lives” and the Petite Martinique Whitsuntide Regatta Festival was highlighted as an initiative to continue transforming lives and developing the communities in which Ariza operates. Through sponsorship and collaboration with community groups and organizations, Ariza seeks to continue transforming lives through initiatives like these in the tri-island sate of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

One of the key elements of Ariza’s 75th Anniversary is its celebratory suite of loan products, which feature reduced loan interest rates to help members on their journey to financial freedom and wealth creation. Members are encouraged to own their education, vehicle, land, or home with Ariza’s Own Your Own loan promotion or consolidate all their debts and enjoy the benefits of one loan and one monthly payment with a Simplify loan. In addition, new and current members can enter Ariza’s monthly draw for a chance to win $750.00. Each month, ten lucky winners will be chosen.

As part of Ariza’s 2022 sponsorship, Ariza awarded the prizes for 1st – 6th plus trophies for the Small Boat D Class and the Lazers 1st – 6th place categories. Racers as well as spectators and other participants were treated to Ariza tokens which included pens, shopping bags, drinking glasses, caps and 75th Anniversary T-Shirts.

Ariza Credit Union would like to extend a hearty congratulations to all the winners and participants in the various categories. A heartfelt thank you is also extended to the Petite Martinique Whitsuntide Regatta committee under the chairmanship of Gary Blair for this partnership to highlight this all-important cultural festival. Ariza commends the committee, volunteers and all others who assisted in making the festival a success.

Pictures from the weekend activities can be found on www.facebook.com/arizacu.

Ariza Credit Union, Celebrating 75 years of transforming lives.

(Image compliments Pure Grenada)