SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - When culture travels, it creates connections far beyond the shores from which it came.
The Funtopia Youth Initiative Foundation (FYIF) recently took its Soualigan Giants Moko Jumbies across the channel to Anguilla, where they participated in the Anguilla Summer Festival Road Parade in collaboration with Players Troupe and Calypso Charters.
For FYIF, the journey represented something much greater than another performance. It was an opportunity for young cultural performers from St. Maarten to experience firsthand the power of Caribbean collaboration, cultural exchange and the growing regional creative industry.
SOUALIGA BEYOND OUR SHORES
The Soualigan Giants were created to ensure that young people are not simply taught traditional cultural practices, but are given opportunities to live them, perform them and carry them into new spaces.
Taking the Moko Jumbies to Anguilla allowed another Caribbean audience to experience a piece of Soualiga while giving the performers an opportunity to stand alongside fellow Caribbean creatives and become part of something larger than themselves.
The project itself became a true Caribbean collaboration. The Soualigan Giants represented St. Maarten, joined an established carnival presentation in Anguilla, and appeared in specially created Moko Jumbie costumes produced by creators in Trinidad and Tobago.
The connection was further strengthened through Eldon Gumbs of Legendary Mokos, based in Florida, who played an important role in orchestrating the link-up between the cultural partners.
Different islands. Different creatives. One Caribbean story.
THE POWER OF COLLABORATION
The weekend became even more meaningful when Players Troupe’s “Guardians of Paradise” presentation went on to capture Band of the Year 2026, Most Colourful Troupe, King of the Band and Queen of the Band.
FYIF celebrates those achievements not as its own, but as an example of what can emerge when Caribbean creatives open their doors to collaboration and allow talent, ideas and traditions to move freely throughout the region.
For the Foundation, that is where the real victory lies.
It demonstrates that St. Maarten’s cultural performers do not have to exist only within the boundaries of St. Maarten. Our dancers, drummers, Moko Jumbies, costume makers, musicians and other creatives can contribute to productions throughout the Caribbean while simultaneously learning from the traditions and creative industries of our neighbours.
BUILDING A CARIBBEAN CULTURAL NETWORK
FYIF believes these exchanges are particularly important for young cultural practitioners. Every opportunity to travel exposes them to different standards of production, costume design, carnival traditions, audiences and creative professionals. It also allows relationships to develop that can lead to future training, performances and regional collaborations.
The Foundation sees the Soualigan Giants as more than a performance group. The programme is becoming another vehicle through which Soualiga can introduce its young cultural ambassadors to the wider Caribbean.
FYIF extends its congratulations to Players Troupe on its outstanding 2026 presentation and expresses its appreciation to Calypso Charters, Eldon Gumbs and Legendary Mokos, the Trinidad and Tobago costume creators, the performers, families and everyone who helped make the exchange possible.
What happened on the Anguillian road was a reminder that while the Caribbean is divided geographically by water, our culture has never respected those boundaries.
Our traditions travel.
Our creativity travels.
Our young people can travel with them.
And every time Soualiga steps onto another Caribbean stage, road or cultural space, we have another opportunity to show the region who we are, what we carry and what we can create together.
WE DID IT FOR THE CULTURE.
Soualiga to the Caribbean — and beyond.
ABOUT FYI FOUNDATION
The Funtopia Youth Initiative Foundation (FYIF) is a St. Maarten-based youth and cultural development organisation focused on cultural preservation, creative education, skills development and creating opportunities for young people to perform, collaborate, travel and represent St. Maarten through the arts.
