Accompong Maroon Indigenous People 6th of January Festival

ACCOMPONG MAROON VILLAGE: Come! Celebrate with us at the Accompong Maroon Cultural Festival! This free village of Accompong, located in the Cockpit Mountains is home to the very resilient descendants and direct bloodline of the Koromanti & Ashanti people out of Ghana, West Africa who were taken to Jamaica during the Atlantic Slave Trade to work on the plantations. The Maroons were escaped slaves who ran away from the plantations, took to the mountains & form groups of warriors. They were very rebellious.

On January 6 each year, the Accompong Maroons celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the 1739 peace treaty with the British. Held in Accompong, St. Elizabeth, this festival marks the victory of the Maroons in the first war against the British in which they fought for over 51 years for their freedom, led by their late warrior leader Cudjoe. Come & enjoy the rituals, food, goombay drumming, Maroon tribal songs & dance and browse through the museum.

On the day of the tour, your friendly tour guide will meet you at the pickup point in a cool air-conditioned van/bus, we set off towards the south of the Island so relax and enjoy the lush, green mountains and valleys as we make our way to Accompong village. Don’t forget to take lots of photos. Our tour guides are ready to entertain you with lots of information on Jamaica’s rich history so feel free to engage them.

This trip will take you through little rural farming towns and villages. Many of these villages were developed during the plantation era. Till this day, the prime source of income is farming. After a 1 hour 50minutes drive you get to Accompong where you will be greeted by an experienced resident Maroon Guide who will give a briefing before taking you on a tour of the village while indicating where the various seal grounds are. You will continue on to Kindah (means one family). There you can sit under a huge mango tree on the very rocks that the Maroon Warriors sat on either to plan their strategy before an attack on the British Red Coats or to celebrate after an attack and they were successful. Hundreds of Maroons and visitors will be entertained in the traditional, authentic Maroon spirit of drumming singing and dancing. A feast of boiled pork, roasted yam and roasted plantain will be available for sampling.

After the visit to Kindah, you will make a stop to purchase lunch, visit the museum & then depart for your hotel/pickup point.