First Annual NYC Caribbean food festival
New York’s Caribbean community is rivaled only by Florida’s in size, and New York City alone is home to over 3.5 million Caribbean born immigrants. A testament to the magnitude of the city’s West Indian community, this past Labor Day, nearly two million people attended the annual West Indian Day Parade and carnival that dances down Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway.
While carnival traditions--costumes, music and dance--are celebrated in countries throughout the Caribbean, perhaps nothing is more integral to a region’s culture than its food. To celebrate the delicious melange of African, indigenous, European, and Asian flavors that make up the Caribbean’s globally inspired cuisine, this weekend will mark the first annual NYC Caribbean Food Festival, organized to take place under just one roof.
Conceived and coordinated by The Haitian Times, the NYC Caribbean Food Festival will be taking place this Saturday at the New York City College of Technology in Downtown Brooklyn. Stating the impetus behind the festival, Haitian Times founder and festival organizer Garry Pierre-Pierre noted: “New York is in the middle of a Caribbean renaissance . . . There’s a wealth of restaurants and businesses emerging out of the area that we’d like to put a spotlight on.” (The Haitian Times)
The festival is set to include tastings, demonstrations, art exhibits and live performances from both local and international participants. It will open with a chef demonstration, followed by a panel discussion titled “Beyond Griot, Jerk Chicken & Roti. A second chef demonstration will then be on view, and the festival will end with a chef cook-off. Participating restaurants include Brooklyn’s BK9 and Kombit, pop-up restaurant Kreyòl Kwizin, and more. Come celebrate and enjoy tastes of the Caribbean.
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2015
Time: 2pm-8pm
Where: New York City College of Technology, 300 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY
