Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights and WTJX kickoff two-day serenade to spread Christmas cheer

ST. CROIX — Holiday cheer filled the air after midnight Monday as the distinct sound of Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights echoed far and wide during the Crucian Christmas Foreday Serenade, a decades-old cultural tradition that unified the community for an early morning of music, dancing, and fellowship.

The territory’s quelbe ambassadors performed traditional Christmas songs and original fan favorites from a mobile stage towed through Christiansted neighborhoods by a Ford F-150 pickup truck as the band kicked off the two-day serenade presented by WTJX and the Ten Sleepless Knights that will continue Tuesday morning in Frederiksted.

The band, followed by a motorcade of revelers, made planned food stops at two residences during the seven-hour celebration that started after midnight and ended after sunrise with a tramp to WTJX from Sunday Market Square. Residents walked out of their homes in nightgowns and pajamas to watch the spectacle, capture video, and shake their rumps as the band traversed the different neighborhoods.