By CHARLIE BAHAMA                       

The International Culture Wine and Food Festival, but where were the U.K. and the United States?                       

This past Saturday and Sunday was the 28th annual International Culture Wine and Food Festival, which was started back in 1995 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

It was the brainchild of Sir Orville Turnquest, who asked Bahamian cultural icon James Catalyn to create a cultural event. Over the past 30 years, it has grown, moved, been cancelled during COVID, and become a fantastic melting pot (pun intended) of the many different countries showcasing not only their food and drink but also their music, art, and spirit. This year was no different at its new home, ‘The Park’ in the shadow of Fort Charlotte and overlooking Fish Fry and the harbour. Lots of open space and a fantastic vibe. As Prime Minister Davis said, “events like this bring us all together as one big family. We share our culture and know the best of each other, which helps ease tensions between nations”.                       

Janet Johnson, who took over the Festival after James Catalyn died in 2018, beamed, “This is the Festival that people say they see people that they don’t usually see all year long”. There certainly was a wide range of people from all walks of life, enjoying the over 130 booths sprawled throughout the easy-to-navigate park, and I ate and drank my way through over half of them.                       

They use ‘Festival Dollars’ as the festival is now cashless, with the member countries giving back 10% of their earnings to help defray the operational costs and keep the festival sustainable.

Later in the afternoon, the crowds grew thicker, so they may need to have more ‘Banks’ at the entrance to alleviate the wait for the Festival Dollars, but other than that, the new Cashless system seemed to work fine.

The array of food and drink was wonderful, and the pride and enthusiasm from the countries was infectious and really made me want to visit them. As Werner and Richard from South Africa said, “every other person we’ve spoken to says they now want to visit South Africa, so this is a great way to promote our countries”.

Even though the hours were long from set-up to break down, many of the vendors were dancing, singing, and kept the energy up for the two days into the night.

Ghana was singing and dancing, and South Africa seemed to have a party going on all day into the night with their ‘Safari Lounge’.

I put on a few pounds eating Roti and Doubles from Trinidad and Tobago, where I braved the ‘Bertie’s Scorpion Pepper Sauce, similar dishes from Guyana, not to be confused with Ghana, where I had Fufu. Guyana is in South America, and Ghana is in the West part of Africa.

From there, Jerk Chicken from Jamaica, some unpronounceable but delicious dish from India, Haiti, Mexico, the Philippines, Colombia, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and ending in South Africa for ‘Boerewors’, a juicy South African sausage grilled over an open fire.

I ended my night there, so I had to wash every- thing down with a bit of ‘Amarula’, a creamy liqueur from South Africa made from the fruit of the Marula tree, which is the elephant’s favorite fruit. Elephant approved, and some folks compare it to Baileys. They also made a gelato with it, and yes, I did try that also.

Notably missing were the United Kingdom and the United States. With the Bahamas still being a part of the Commonwealth, I would think the United Kingdom, which would include England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, would have had a big presence, and of course, our closest neighbor, the United States, would have had some representation. Overall, each country did a fantastic job representing with food and drink, and I didn’t even mention the entertainment on the main stage yet.

Each country had performers, with Bollywood dancers from India to steel pan from Trinidad. A really talented group of young Bahamians also lit up the night as the people crowded to the main stage to watch them perform classic Bahamian hits.

All in all, I would say it was a great success, and next year, I’ll be looking for hot dogs and apple pie from the United States and fish and chips and haggis from the United Kingdom.