NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (February 10, 2023) — The Ministry of Tourism in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA) will celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Nevisian Heritage Village at Fothergills in Gingerland on Wednesday, February 22, 2023.

Mr. John Hanley, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said to commemorate the anniversary, there will be an official ceremony among the events planned.

“To commemorate the auspicious milestone, there will be a celebratory ceremony from 10 a.m. followed by cultural performances, a display of cultural items, the sale of traditional food and beverage along with a soft opening of the Heritage Café and the Heritage Gift Shop,” he said.

The Nevisian Heritage Village, like all other heritage sites on Nevis, are under the care of the Ministry of Tourism. It was conceptualised by the late Hon. Malcolm Guishard, a former Minister of Tourism and Culture in the NIA.

The village, an open-air museum, largely depicts the evolution of Nevisian social history through housing. The houses model those from the Carib Indian era and are furnished with antiques and relics of their relevant periods.

The display at the village includes a blacksmith’s shop, a rum shop, the shoemaker’s shop, along with dwelling houses. To complete these traditional village settings, there are “backyard” gardens, flower gardens and various species of indigenous plants and shrubs.

During a ceremony to mark the 15^th anniversary of the village in February 2018, the Ministry of Tourism honoured the late Mr. Guishard for the establishment of the facility and erected a portrait of him at the entrance to the facility. It was unveiled by his widow Mrs. Yvonne Guishard.

Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis, in his remarks lauded Mr. Guishard’s efforts for the establishment of the village which, over the years, has grown into a prominent tourist and local historical attraction in the island’s tourism product.

“Imagine, if you will, 15 years ago that there was a man called Malcolm Guishard who had the vision to establish something such as this. He had the understanding that these youngsters here who are in the primary schools…none of who would have been born yet at that time, that they must have something that they can look to and which will give them an appreciation of what is their history.

“We have to applaud and commend people like that for that vision, that understanding that service is not just about them today but service is about ensuring that long after they are gone, our people continue to benefit from that which they left. So for Malcolm Guishard, it is not for me to speak about his greatness…His works speak more eloquently than any of us can,” he said.

Mr. Brantley added that when persons look at the heritage village, they realise that the facility was born from the efforts of a visionary who had the ability to see far into the future and to understand that lasting monuments must be created to each other, to the country and its cultural heritage to ensure that its past is never forgotten.