Claudine Scatliffe-Daniels Honored at 2025 Village Opening; Speeches Urge Peace, Remembrance, and Cultural Pride

Officials praised Claudine Scatliffe-Daniels as a community pillar and tied her honor to the festival’s theme of living history; speeches invoked Rams Head, self-emancipation, and the need to honor freedom through togetherness and action.

ST. JOHN — The 2025 St. John Festival Village officially opened Sunday evening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a heartfelt tribute to Claudine Scatliffe-Daniels, a longtime fixture of the celebration whose Booth 8 has become a staple of the annual festivities. This year, the village has been named “Claudine's Culinary Craft Shop” in her honor.

Director of Festivals Ian Turnbull of the Department of Tourism said the naming was especially fitting given the 2025 festival theme: History and Culture Comes Alive for St. John’s Celebration. Turnbull shared that Ms. Daniels typically contacts his office as early as January to inquire about plans for the summer festival. “Honoring the stalwart of Booth 8 was only fitting,” he said, urging attendees to “heavily patronize Ms. Daniels through the season.”

Before receiving her plaque, Daniels paused the celebration to ask the crowd for a moment of silence in remembrance of the recent violent incidents that have disturbed the island’s normally peaceful environment. She then wished everyone a safe Carnival season before accepting the honor.

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett reminded those gathered of the deeper significance of the St. John Celebration, which coincides with both Emancipation Day and the Fourth of July. Quoting the phrase “freedom isn’t free,” she noted the unique history of the Virgin Islands as one of only two places in the Western Hemisphere where enslaved Africans emancipated themselves.