KINGSTON, Jamaica — The annual Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival New York is scheduled to take place at the Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, on Sunday. Now in its fifth year, the annual celebration of Jamaican food, music and culture has emerged as one of the ‘must attend’ summer events attracting thousands of food and music enthusiasts annually.

Chairman of Jamaican Jerk Festival USA Inc, Eddy Edwards describes how the event has evolved.

“The event has grown rapidly and has become a major summer event for the Caribbean community in New York.  The initial attendance was 4,000 and last year we had 12,000 who came out to enjoy the food, music and culture of Jamaica and the Caribbean in general.”

The main performance stage will feature performances from VP Records recording artistes Romain Virgo and Carlene Davis as well as dancehall deejay Cham, the Fab Five band, gospel artiste Kokodoo and comedian Maja Hype.Veteran producer and sound system operator King Jammys will play a special selection of dancehall classics and retro selections to keep the crowd entertained.

Edwards outlined some of the new dynamics for this year’s staging.

“This year we have expanded on the activities in the Jerk Cook-off Pavilion, we will have Miss Universe Jamaica 2014 Kaci Fennell competing against the defending champion State Committee Woman Scherie Murray as well as Chef Eddie G and Chef Irie performing culinary demonstrations.”

He also spoke about the challenges of putting on an event of this nature.

“Each year we face various challenges, but we have a very experienced team that is able to overcome challenges which allows us to present an event which is entertaining to our guests and rewarding to our corporate sponsors.  We strive for excellence and to represent Jamaica and the Caribbean in a manner to make us proud.”

A number of New York’s top Caribbean restaurants will be cooking up spicy jerk dishes with bold flavors at the event. These include Boston Jerk, Yardie’s Restaurant, Gwennie’s Jamaican Jerk, Seth’s Jerk Yard and Porty’s Jerk Flavor to name a few.  Restaurants will vie for the title of ‘Best Jerk’ as they will be judged by a panel of experts who will announce a winner before the end of the festival.

The popular Western Union Cultural Stage promises loads of fun for adults and kids alike as fans feast on their favorite jerk cuisine.

Kevin Jackson