Breadbasket festival squeezes it all in

Music, art, food packed into three-day event

Patrons of the Treasure Beach Breadbasket Festival will be able to sample the flavour and taste of St Elizabeth with the inclusion of a farmers' market which will run for the duration of the three-day festival, May 27 to 29 in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth.

The organisers of the festival believe the festival has been aptly named as it is to be held in St Elizabeth, which is considered the breadbasket of the nation because most of the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed by Jamaicans are grown in that parish. In addition, farmers and fisherfolk will have an opportunity to sell their produce and catch to the thousands of patrons expected to flock the festival.

The farmers' market, which takes place at Kingfisher Plaza in Treasure Beach, will have a wide array of freshly harvested vegetables, produce and fruits for sale.

In addition, there will be a food court, featuring jerked chicken from the overall 2010 CB Pan Chicken Champion of Champions, Oliver Bailey, who is also proprietor of Oliver's Dutch Pot in Treasure Beach.

Fried fish and bammy - a staple for residents of St Elizabeth - will also be on sale by the many vendors who will be on location.

The Treasure Beach Breadbasket Festival kicks off at Taino Cove on Friday, May 27 with 'Culture Night', at which a tantalising entrée of Jamaican culture specially prepared for the breadbasket festival will be served. This event, which is supported by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), will be led by internationally renowned Jamaican storyteller Amina Blackwood-Meeks and will feature Cen'C Love, daughter of Bunny Wailer; Grange Hill JonKunno Band; the Manchioneal Cultural Group, performing Quadrille and Bruckins, dub poetry from Royal African Soldiers; drumming from local talents the Shane Brothers; Sister Carol; Scripture and Bongo Shem from St Thomas; school groups which entered the JCDC Festival competition and the Treasure Beach Girls' Group - the youth arm of the Treasure Beach Women's Group.

The evening's fare will be rounded out by music from Senor Daley of Classique Disco.

The fun is expected to continue on Saturday, May 28 with the Talking Trees Literary Fiesta set to kick off at 9 a.m. with recorded talk at Two Seasons Guest House before moving into a 'Readings' segment to be headlined by Nigerian author A. Igoni Barrett, winner of the 2005 BBC World Service short-story competition and the 2010 Chinua Achebe Centre Fellowship.

Other participants in the Talking Trees Fiesta will be popular newspaper columnist and author Robert Lalah; two-time winner of the Una Marson prize for literature, Garfield Ellis; founder of the Independent VoYces Literary Fair Judith Falloon Reid and playwright and actor Keiran King who will be reading from his musical Last Call.

The action will move that evening at 7 o'clock to the beautiful beachside location of Frenchman's Reef Restaurant and Bar, where classically trained chanteuse Sharon Martini and classical pianist and Jamaican folk music aficionado Denny Davis will present an eclectic evening of musical meanderings dubbed 'An Evening of Song'.

The event is a fund-raiser and proceeds will benefit a victim support fund for abused women in Black River, St Elizabeth.

Saturday's events culminate with 'A Night of Great Entertainment' at Jack Sprat & Pizza Restaurant. This event will take the form of a stage show featuring headliners reggae soul singer Tanya Stephens, Protojé and Rootz Underground. Music begins at 6 p.m. with Code Red, with showtime set for 10 p.m.

The Treasure Beach Breadbasket Festival culminates on Sunday, May 29 with the Breadbasket Brunch at the Sunset Resort and Villas, starting at 9 a.m.

The Treasure Beachbread Basket Festival's final event will be an art and fashion show at Calabash House.

The Treasure Beach Breabasket Festival is sponsored by the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Power 106FM, Music 99FM, Bess 100FM, Newstalk 93FM, treasure beach.net , with support from the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Tourism Product Development Company and the south coast chapter of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association.