BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, August 28, 2022 - As the Barbadian economy begin to take on some semblance of normalcy following the two year COVID-19 lockdown, the much anticipated 2022 Barbados Food and Rum Festival is back on the agenda.

The festival, which will run from October 27 to 30, will encompass a series of six delectable events featuring 28 acclaimed chefs and mixologists, was launched  on Thursday at the historic Golden Square Freedom Park, in the city, under the theme Feed The Future.

Barbados' Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Lisa Cummins, noted that after a two-year hiatus the festival was back and promised it was going to be better than ever.

The Tourism Minister said: “Our team has put together not just the four nights of amazing events; we have the Cask Fest, you have the rum festival that’s going to take place, you have the St. Lawrence base event where in St. Lawrence Gap you’re going to have a mini carnival type atmosphere. We’re going to be going from one location to the other, sampling food.  

Booth selling branded Food and Rum Festival gear such as aprons, tumblers and hats. (A.Reid/BGIS)“We have 28 amazing chefs and mixologists and we have a couple of familiar names that are going to be flying in as our international partners, including from the Food Network, who are going to be here to say to all of you and to the rest of the world that Barbados competes on an international stage and can hold its own alongside the best chefs in the world.”

Senator Cummins shared that the festival had already been pre-launched in all of Barbados’ major tourism source markets including New York, the United Kingdom, Washington and Canada, and there would also be a launch with an airline partner in the coming days.

She also disclosed that as part of this year’s festival, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) has partnered with lifestyle travel magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, which will provide further international exposure for the festival and the opportunity for one of the island’s chefs to visit its New York City office.

Director of Public Relations and Communications, Aprille Thomas highlighted the “give back” component of the festival. She explained that the festival’s purpose would not only be about putting on a good display of what Barbados has to offer with respect to the talent of its local chefs and mixologists, but funds collected from persons patronising the festival would go towards supporting future studies of three persons, in the form of scholarships.

“This year we wanted to create a festival that is ingrained in the Barbadian community in a way that impacted a number of people so even after October, when it is done, we can still see the effects of the festival.

“So what we did is we came up with a Feed The Future theme and that is actually three scholarships that we’re going to be giving to three Barbadians. These are three Barbadians that are passionate about culinary arts…. Two of them are going to study at the PomMarine Institute and one of them is going to further their culinary studies internationally,” Ms. Thomas stated.

Friday's launch began with a motorcade that started at the BTMI headquarters in Warrens and made its way down to Golden Square Freedom Park.  Along the way, people received branded Food and Rum Festival gear and flyers highlighting the upcoming events.  There were also impromptu performances from Peter Ram, Barbados’ 2022 Road March King, BruceLee Almighty and dancers from Dancin’ Africa.

Dancin’ Africa dancers performing during an impromptu Peter Ram performance at Cheapside in the City, during yesterday’s motorcade as part of the Food and Rum Festival 2022 launch. (A. Reid/BGIS)While at Golden Square Freedom Park locals and visitors were treated to food and drinks from some of the chefs and mixologists participating in the festival. These included Damian Leach and John Hazzard, and specially crafted rum cocktails from mixologists Alex Chandler, Ryan Adamson and David Barker.  In addition to steel pan music, there was a concert featuring Nikita, Mahalia, Biggie Irie, RPB and Lil Rick, and patrons had the opportunity to participate in competitions and win prizes.  

As part of this year’s event, the BTMI has partnered with the National Cultural Foundation to host monthly community-based culinary pop-up experiences which will incorporate chefs and activities from each of the communities. This is expected to continue after the festival has ended.

To find out more about the upcoming festival, visit https://www.foodandrum.com.