Patrons enjoying some of the culinary delights at the pop up at Copacabana on Bay Street. (A.Husbands/BGIS)

Foodies and rum lovers can expect an exciting 2019 Barbados Food and Rum Festival.

Tantalizing rum mixes, mouth-watering cuisine, mesmerizing music and fun will all be part of the festival from Thursday, October 24, to Sunday, October 27, this year.

Celebrations to promote the 10th edition unofficially began with a pop up at the popular beach club, Copacabana on Bay Street. And, if the first pop up for the year was an indication of what the actual festival would be like, patrons should definitely be in for a treat!

At the pop up, patrons enjoyed the special ‘Bajan Splash’ cocktail mixed by Ryan Adam, and sampled Barbados Rum Cake. Mount Gay’s Chesterfield Browne shared the story of rum, while Jamar the Star provided the entertainment.

Chefs prepared delicious taco platters with a variety of toppings. Patrons ate, drank, chatted and danced, while a few ‘brave’ persons entered the rum identification and mixology competitions.

At the end of the night, Cody Thompson won a dinner for two at the Rum Vault at Colony Club by Elegant Hotel for mixing a delicious cocktail.

Event organizers at the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), have promised more pop ups at popular locations, and the best possible gastronomical festival this island has ever experienced to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary.

Chief Executive Officer at the BTMI, William “Billy” Griffith, said in an interview with the Barbados Government Information Service, that the BTMI had held a series of promotional pop ups over the last two years.

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“We wanted to do it in a more structured way; we will have a pop up every single month and the idea is to increase the brand awareness of Food and Rum in the 10th year not only to visitors, but locals as well.

“We want to go to various areas around the island; we want to follow the Vision 2020 which the Prime Minister has articulated, and the pop ups will go into next year, where we will go into different parishes and iconic venues, different rum shops, and really indigenous locations to expose everyone, visitors and locals, to food and rum,” Mr. Griffith said.

He shared that the featured chefs and social media influencers for the festival would be revealed later in the year at the official launch.

The BTMI boss added: “We want to bring back a bit of the cooking demonstrations. Oistins is a staple, and the biggest secret we have is that we want to do the most exciting food truck festival with real Bajan food; that is going to be the big difference this year. We are excited; it’s the 10th year, and we think it’s going to be great.”

shamkoe.pile@barbados.gov.bb

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