GREAT BAY--The Funtopia Youth Initiative Foundation, FYIF, recently took its Soualigan Giants Moko Jumbies to Anguilla, where the young cultural performers participated in the Anguilla Summer Festival Road Parade through a collaboration with Players Troupe and Calypso Charters.
The participation gave the Soualigan Giants an opportunity to represent St. Maarten on another Caribbean stage while experiencing regional carnival traditions, production standards and creative collaboration firsthand. For FYIF, the initiative formed part of its wider effort to ensure that young people are not only taught traditional cultural practices, but are also given opportunities to perform them and carry them into new spaces.
The Anguilla appearance developed into a wider Caribbean collaboration. The Soualigan Giants represented St. Maarten as part of an established Anguillian carnival presentation, while their specially created Moko Jumbie costumes were produced by creators in Trinidad and Tobago.
Eldon Gumbs of Legendary Mokos, based in Florida, also played an important role in coordinating the connection among the cultural partners, creating a project that brought together performers and creatives from several parts of the Caribbean.
The experience became even more significant when Players Troupe’s “Guardians of Paradise” presentation captured several major honors at the 2026 Anguilla Summer Festival, includingBand of the Year, Most Colourful Troupe, King of the Band and Queen of the Band.
FYIF said the achievements demonstrate what can result when Caribbean creatives collaborate across borders and provide opportunities for talent, ideas and traditions to move throughout the region.
The Foundation views the experience as an example of the possibilities available to St. Maarten’s cultural performers beyond the island. Dancers, drummers, Moko Jumbies, costume designers, musicians and other creatives can contribute to productions elsewhere in the Caribbean while gaining knowledge from neighboring islands and strengthening their own skills and networks.
The Soualigan Giants initiative was developed to give young cultural practitioners practical opportunities to represent St. Maarten while building their experience. FYIF believes regional exchanges are particularly valuable because they expose young performers to different approaches to costume design, carnival production, audiences and cultural traditions.
Such experiences can also create relationships that lead to future training opportunities, performances and collaborations throughout the region.
FYIF sees the Soualigan Giants as more than a performance group, but as a vehicle through which young cultural ambassadors from St. Maarten can be introduced to the wider Caribbean while helping to preserve and promote local cultural traditions.
The Foundation congratulated Players Troupe on its successful 2026 presentation and expressed appreciation to Calypso Charters, Eldon Gumbs and Legendary Mokos, the Trinidad and Tobago costume creators, participating performers, families and everyone who contributed to making the exchange possible.
The Anguilla experience also reinforced FYIF’s belief that geography should not limit cultural exchange within the Caribbean. By creating more opportunities for young people to perform and collaborate regionally, the Foundation hopes to strengthen cultural preservation while expanding the pathways available to St. Maarten’s emerging creatives.
The Funtopia Youth Initiative Foundation is a St. Maarten-based youth and cultural development organization 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.
