Preparations begin for Cayman’s food festival

(CNS): Although the Taste of Cayman food festival is more than six months away the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) is beginning the work to pull the culinary event together. The 24th Annual Taste of Cayman is set for Saturday, 28 January 28 and organizers expect more than 4000 people to be sampling food from more than 35 of the Island’s hottest restaurants. “Each year, the event grows and changes to reflect the direction we are moving,” says Trina Savage-Christian, executive director of CITA. “We are excited to be able to put on such a wonderful event that is one of the largest and best food and wine experiences in the Caribbean.”

Taste of Cayman now forms part of a full culinary month which includes Cayman Cookout and CITA is also looking for restaurants and event coordinators who are interested in hosting a culinary event any time in 2012. The Taste of Cayman festival is a key element of the month long celebration of food and has gone from strength to strength since it started as a very humble affair in the 1980s

Savage-Christian said the event’s success was down to the efforts of the contributors and their ideas and exciting developments. There are many opportunities for local residents and companies to be a part of this event and sponsorship starts at CI $500 with a ‘Sugar Bowl’ level sponsorship, moving to Bronze Fork, Silver Spoon and Golden Fork. The Planning Committee has some new sponsorship opportunities this year, all of which add value to the entry ticket for adults attending the festival.

While the association is not actively recruiting volunteers yet the Planning Committee is eager to start a data base of people who are interested in volunteering their time for the Festival. Each year, several hundred volunteers are needed to ensure that the event runs smoothly.

Volunteers assist with festival preparation in the weeks leading up to Taste of Cayman, as well as on-the-day volunteering followed by help with some of the labour intensive wrap up of the event in the weeks after the Festival.

“It is because of the generosity of our community, from the corporations to the volunteering of time and energy, to the thousands of people that attend the event, that we are able to produce such a world class event each year,” Savage-Christian added.

Those interested in sponsoring items such as a reusable Bambu spork (which will be given to each attendee for use when sampling food items), wine glass lanyards, wine glasses, a lionfish cooking demonstration component and the festival entertainment, to name a few, are encouraged to contact CITA at 949-8522

Contact CITA at tasteofcayman@cita.ky or 949-8522 to register your name on the volunteer list.