Customers took front stage last Friday, as 1st National Bank feted them Jounen Kwéyòl style.

The bank has been at the forefront of community activism for the last 71 years and believes it is part of their Corporate Social Responsibility to uphold and celebrate St Lucia’s cultural traditions.

Jounen Kwéyòl is an annual St Lucian festival which celebrates Creole culture.
It is held at the end of October across the island and has been celebrated annually since 1984.

1st National Bank, as an indigenous financial institution embraces the observance of St Lucia’s Creole heritage as part of its own policy tradition.

The bank was richly decorated in Jounen Kwéyòl style and customers were treated to folk music and traditional local delicacies.

Manager of Projects and Services, Robert Fevrier said that like Jounen Kwéyòl, this celebration at the bank is an annual tradition.

“Being the country’s 1st indigenous bank we are deeply immersed in all things national, cultural and traditional,” noted Fevrier. He went on to say that Jounen Kwéyòl has of particular kind of sentimentality for 1st National Bank.

“We were at a time when certain St Lucians had no access to banking that met their needs. Many of these persons were Creole speaking and lived out from day to day the many things we now celebrate today as traditions and symbols. So we feel a special kind of kinship with the whole Jounen Kwéyòl observance,” added Fevrier.

Customers, too, were appreciative of the recognition given to Creole culture by 1st National Bank.