On the Island of St. Kitts, the local culture provides a fascinating window into the distant past. It is a rare treasure chest of traditions and customs brought together from very different lands by very different people.

One of the most cherished traditions in St. Kitts is Carnival at Christmas time, when Clowns, Moko-Jumbies, Masquerade, Bull, and Actors parade in a joyous display of island pride. In St. Kitts, Masquerade is an art form. Uniquely Kittitian, it is their Carnival's grand display of the cultural evolution that has taken place over the course of 300 years. Paraders wear tall peacock-feathered headdresses, masks, and fringed aprons that reach just above the knees. The entire costume is decorated with bangles, mirrors and ribbons.

In the seventeenth century, the French Governor De Poincy took residence in the parish of St. Peters, and started a tradition that has far outlived the palace that he built there. Today "The Actors" of St. Peters still perform skillful, hair-raising acrobatic feats. They do somersaults over the prongs of upturned pitchforks, and use sledgehammers to break great stones set upon each other's chests – all to the delight of young and old.

For hundreds of years Clowns have been a big part of the local Christmas time festival. This troupe of up to fifty players wear floppy, colorful costumes decorated with tiny bells that fill the air with a delightful jingle. The punctuating crack of the Hunter, a leather whip carried by each performer, serves to keep them in sync with the rhythms of their accompanying String Band. In the same tradition of all local folk dances, clowns wear pink wire mesh masks to hide their identity and allow for total lack of inhibition. As they serpentine behind and between each other, the elegance and grace of this fun-loving flock of Kittitians is truly a spectacle to behold.