Curaçao - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 215

March/April . The Seú Folklore Festival takes place the Monday after
Easter Sunday. It is an official holiday, and a day for traditional celebra-
tions that remind residents of the island's agricultural heritage. Even dur-
ing the years of slavery, workers celebrated the end of the harvest, and
once former slaves were free to farm their own land, the revelry increased
with untamed enthusiasm.

599-9-737-3585 or 599-9-461-7355.

Beat
Seú is the name of the
slaves' old trouble-and-toil
music, which had a beat that
was ideal for carting baskets
of produce from fields to
warehouses. Laborers
moved from field to field,
singing and swaying to the
seú beat played on home-
made drums and horns. To-
day, the celebration is continued by cultural groups, and seú
musicians play instruments made from conch shells, cow horns,
and hollow gourds. Parade marchers of all ages dress in muslin
and sack cloth similar to the clothing worn by slaves and march
through

The Seú

the streets of Punda and Otrobanda, districts of

Willemstad.

April 30 is celebrated as the Queen's Birthday on all islands in the
Netherlands Antilles, but on Curaçao the royal birth is commemorated
with official ceremonies at Fort Amsterdam and festive decorations in the
Punda section of Willemstad. Government offices, banks, and many stores
are closed for the day.
May 1 , Labor Day , is celebrated with sports competitions, dances, and
picnics.
May 30 , The 1969 Commemoration , is an unofficial holiday celebrated
by trade unions in remembrance of the historic social uprising that
gripped the island in 1969, when labor organizations demanded better
working conditions. Most stores and businesses remain open, but trade
unions organize public cultural activities, parades and pro-labor speeches.
July 2 , Flag Day , is celebrated with morning festivities in Brionplein
(Brion Plaza) in Otrobanda and in Parke Himnoy Bandera (Hymn and
Flag Park) on the west end of the island.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are celebrated by the Jews in Sep-
tember and October , and most Jewish-owned shops, banks, and busi-
nesses are closed.