Jamaica / Special Interests / Food Events

A number of food festivals are held throughout the year, the main being as follows (please see Calendar of Events for dates):

Jamaica Chicken Festival - The West Indians love their chicken and Jamaica is no exception. There is a Labour weekend beach bash at James Bond Beach, featuring chicken cooked in all manner of ways. There are culinary competitions, demonstrations, recipes to collect and live entertainment.

Jamaica Coffee Festival - A showcase for Jamaica’s world famous Blue Mountain Coffee. Held in Kingston, the festival features demonstrations on all there is to know about coffee, including the art of cupping and the preparation of roasted beans. Various coffee-based liqueurs, ice cream, desserts, foods, merchandise and recipes are on show.

Portland Jerk Festival - Boston Bay is the home of jerk and each year lovers of this hot and spicy dish converge at nearby Folly Estate to dine out on jerk pork, jerk chicken, jerk fish, jerk lobster, jerk sausage and jerk conch served with a festival, baked breadfruit or yam, and rice & peas. There is live entertainment, and games, and a jerk eating competition.

Trelawny Yam Festival, c/o the Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency - An annual event spread out over a week in the lead-up to Easter weekend, culminating in the Grand Yam Festival Day on Easter Monday. The yam, which is a very starchy, large, potato-like ground provision is cultivated extensively in Trelawny, and the festival’s celebrations feature cultural performances, champion farmer competitions, the best-dressed donkeys, a dominoes tournament, culinary competitions, and a Festival Village with vendors selling yam dishes, jerk and every popular Jamaican dish imaginable.