A bumper crowd is expected to turn out for the 8th staging of the Grace Jamaica Jerk Festival on July 22 at the Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York. The organizers have promised a bigger, better and fun-filled event this year with several new features and an impressive line-up of chefs and popular personalities.
Among the new features is the Farm Up Jamaica Caribbean Farmers Market offering fresh fruits and vegetables for Jamaica.
Of course the focus of the Festival will be the culinary pavilion featuring celebrity chef Al Cummings, who originally hails from Jamaica and who has been sharing the delights of Jamaican cuisine from his time working at the ‘Door’ restaurant ion NYC. More latterly he has been chef for Google and Twitter NY and currently prepares meals for executives at Century Fox 21.
The popularity and appeal of Jamaica and its culinary heritage and Jerk in particular is demonstrated by Chef Ji H. Cha who will test her culinary skills utilizing jerk seasoning in fusion with her Korean cooking specialty.
Chef Irie Spice will host the popular cooking demonstrations and will have with him Chef Patrick Simpson, Executive Chef for B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York and Chef Troy Leroy who promises to unveil his secret demo dish!
More excitement is in store when Jamaican-born Ruschell Boone TV Anchor/Reporter on NY1 faces off with fellow Jamaican meteorologist for Morning On 1, Shelly-Ann Gooden in a Celebrity Quick Fire cook-off challenge .
With such an impressive array of celebrated chefs and other popular media personalities, it attests to the quality and appeal of the Grace Jamaica Jerk Festival as more than just a ‘cookout’ but as an important event in New York’s culinary calendar.
But while the Festival is about Jamaican food, it is also about entertainment, fusing Jamaica’s diverse culture with its unique cuisine in the form of cultural performances featuring the Braata Folk Singers, Asoso International, singer Andrew Clarke and a junkanoo parade among others. There will also be appearances by reggae and dancehall stars like Elephant Man, Hood Celebrityy, New Kingston, Jameil and LUST. And not to be left out are the children, with a special zone featuring games, quizzes, face painting and a variety of rides
The Grace Jamaica Jerk Festival the complete family summer affair bonding Jamaicans in the diaspora with home and reminding them of the good things that come from ‘yard’ especially the food! GK’s commitment to promoting Jamaica and its culture is demonstrated by the fact that the Grace Jamaica Jerk Festival has been staged for the past seventeen years in Florida, and with this edition, eight years in NYC and three years in Washington DC. With increasing attendance and popularity of these Festivals a spokesperson for Grace told Jamaicaglobalonline.com that while there were no immediate plans to expand the Festival to other US cities, they would consider doing so if the opportunities arose and the conditions were favourable.
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