They came for the food and rum, but were also treated to an exciting motorcade and stellar entertainment package that complemented the culinary fare on offer.
Last Friday August 26, as the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) launched this year’s Food and Rum festival they took the opportunity to showcase the island’s talent in a big way, with a motorcade that commenced at their headquarters in Warrens and made its way to Golden Square Freedom Park. Onboard were several popular social media influencers such as Mahalia Cummins and Akhnaten Burrowes who joined BTMI officials including Minister of Tourism Senator Lisa Cummins, Chief Financial Officer Craig Hinds and Chief Executive Officer Dr Jens Thraenhart, among others.
Along the route, branded paraphernalia was distributed to numerous people who were drawn from their homes and workplaces and showed their support as the roving spectacle passed. In addition to information on the upcoming festival, they were encouraged by MC for the evening Jamarr the Star to come out and support the festival.
Impromptu performances by entertainers Peter Ram and 2022 Road March King Bruce Lee Almightee brought the traffic in Bridgetown to a halt along Cheapside and on Broad Street where members of Dancin’ Africa added to the roadside extravaganza. While several shoppers and passers-by waved and sang along, a few even joined the dancers in the street.
Upon reaching Golden Square Freedom Park, the throngs of people who gathered there were treated to numerous drinks and sample-sized dishes prepared by some of the island’s top chefs and mixologists who made up the 26 participating in the festival. These included signature rum cocktails by mixologists Alex Chandler, David Barker and Ryan Adamson while chefs Damian Leach and John Hazzard whipped up special culinary delights.
In addition to appetising treats, patrons had the opportunity to participate in competitions and other spirited activities where they were rewarded with an array of prizes. These included spinning a wheel for a chance to win prizes as well as amateur mixology and rum-tasting contests.
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Entertainment for the evening included a roaming steel pan orchestra, popular DJs Salt & Don as well as a cast of some of the island’s top entertainers. Smooth-singing Biggie Irie started the ball rolling and he was followed by, Nikita, Mahalia, RPB and Lil Rick, who were all shown love by the receptive audience.
When the live entertainment drew to a close just after 10 pm it was evident that the launch had been successful in both whetting the appetites and sensitizing the public to the upcoming Food and Rum Festival, which is slated for October 27 to 30 later this year.
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