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Mango Melee | |
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The Mangoes are Coming, The Mangoes are Coming!!!
Scores of mangoes will be collected from farmers and property owners across the island by longtime committee member Errol Chichester, Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture and Jacqueline Kowalski, the department’s horticulturist. Hurricane Omar in October of 2008 has definitely hurt this year’s crop production, but Chichester says there is no question that we will have lots of mangoes. “For people who are not very familiar with the many varieties of mangoes and are interested in learning what they look like, Mango Melee is the place to go,” Chichester said.
The Mango Dis, Mango Dat Food Competition will be back with foods in four categories; Sips (alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks), Sweets (and desserts), Salsas (and sauces) and Stuff (anything that doesn’t fit in the other categories). All entries must feature mango predominately, and will be judged on best use of the fruit, taste, creativity and presentation. The public can buy tastes of the wining entries after judging is over. Click here for an application to compete. There is a lot to do at Mango Melee. Festival goers can test their knowledge at the Tropical Fruit ID Contest and see if they can name fruits based on their feel alone. You can enter to win Seaborne Airline tickets to St. Thomas, in this year’s raffle. Or you can dance to the sounds of the Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra this year, a new addition this year. For those who like to get messy, you can enter in the Mango Eating Contest to win cash prizes! ($100 for adults, $50 for children 12 and under)
The grand finale of the event is the very popular Electric Slide, held close to the farmers’ area, followed by the Silent Auction of the fruits. The festival, always part of the Emancipation/4th of July weekend of celebrations, is co-sponsored by the V.I. Department of Tourism, the V.I. Department of Agriculture, UVI Cooperative Extension Service and UVI Agricultural Experiment Station, as well as several generous corporate and individual sponsors, including Hovensa, LLC; Gary M. Lalor; Plaza Extra; Marshall & Sterling; Team San Martin; Island Dairies; Diamond Industrial Corp; Cruzan Rum; Innovative Communications Corp; Tropico Management, LP; Seaborne Airlines and Caribbean Printing & Marketing. For more information, call the Garden at 692-2874. 2-2:30 pm Citrus Family - Production and Uses Competitions 11-12:30 pm Check in for Mango Dis, Mango Dat Food Competition Music & Entertainment Kid’s Activities Museum Store Nursery Sale Garden Tours For more information, call the Garden at 692-2874. |
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Copyright © St. George Village Botanical Garden |
Mango Melee was voted Best Arts and Crafts Show in the VI for 2009.
“When you think of summer fun on St. Croix, you think of Mango Melee,” says Melanie L. Feltmate, Education Coordinator for the Botanical Garden. “It brings more people to the Garden than any other festival. Adults and children of all ages will be delighted with the assortment of workshops and educational and fun activities, food, music and crafts. Mango Melee was voted Best Arts and Crafts Show in the VI for 2009 by the readers of the Daily News. There really is something for everyone at Mango Melee and it is not an event to be missed!”
In addition to collecting Mangoes, Chichester and Kowalski will be picking up various citrus fruits since the citrus family is the featured tropical fruit this year. Workshops on citrus production, nutritional benefits of mango and citrus, and how to make preserves from the citrus fruit calamondin will be held in the Pavilion at the Bodine Visitor’s Center throughout the day. There will also be mango and tropical fruit juice tastings. 
The event will also draw dozens of vendors of food, local drinks and crafts. Local farmers will be on hand selling their crops. Children's games are organized by Sarah Smith of UVI's 4-H Program on the Great Lawn. Free hour-long guided tours of the grounds are offered and the Garden's Nursery and Museum Store will be open with lots of gorgeous plants and attractive and unusual merchandise respectively. Make sure to get your official Mango Melee T-shirt, apron or baseball cap before you head home.
