July just got hotter with the annual Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival New York taking place this Sunday July 22nd at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, NY. The eighth staging of the tri-state’s “Biggest Caribbean Food and Music Festival” will take place from 12pm to 8pm, and this year will have no shortage of delicious jerk food vendors, entertainment and fun for all ages.
Regular patrons will come to enjoy the wide variety of jerk delicacies, culinary demonstrations, contests, cultural presentations, contemporary entertainment on the Main Stage and Kidz Zone area. In addition, a new non-cooked raw vegan area will debut as well as a Caribbean Farmers market offering fresh vegetables and fruit direct from Jamaica, presented by Farm Up Jamaica.
This year, the mainstage will also offer a new genre to the traditional reggae and soca music roster the festival usually provides. Popular West African artist Patoranking will represent for the afro-beats, as the Nigeria born artist will perform hits like “My Woman, My Everything”, which is sure to make his fans come out in droves as well as introduce him to a new audience. African media conglomerate Aflik TV will be there to capture it all. Energy God, Elephant Man who led the recent DC Jerk Festival held on June 10th, will be back for another astounding performance in New York. Fresh off the success of her single “Walking Trophy”, Hood Celebrityy will be back for the second year in a row to now headline and present the audience with some of her other big hits, representing for modern Caribbean women. Other performers will also include reggae band L.US.T., young dancehall artist Jahmiel and the group New Kingston who also performed recently in DC.
Entertainment on the main stage will begin at 12pm and will feature a variety of traditional and folk performances which will keep patrons entertained as well as enlightened. Patrons are encouraged to come out early to enjoy all the performances such as Braata Productions, which comprise performances by the Braata Folk Singers, the Jamaican Junkanoo Masqueraders along with the talented singer, Andrew Clarke and some Ring Ding (children's games) with Dianne Dixon.
Also performing are the Divine Divas a group of young models/dancers from Washington DC, Asoso International Ensemble (Afro Caribbean drummers and dancers) and a "Kolors in Bloom" fashion show by Kolor Mania Urban Wear.
The Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival would not be complete without Jerk Food! A variety of over xx vendors will be on hand serving the best of their menu’s including jerk chicken, jerk sea food collections and the best in Caribbean food overall. There will also be a wide variety of creative icy beverages to help patrons cool down from the day’s festivities.
The Culinary Pavilion, hosted by Chef Irie Spice, will be the prime area for cooking demonstrations by chefs such as Chef Patrick Simpson, Chef Al Cummings and more. The audience will have their chance to sample some of these offerings and win prizes from sponsors.
One highlight of the pavilion will be the annual Celebrity Cook off where two famous personalities will battle against each other with their best culinary efforts for bragging rights.Local Spectrum News NY1’s news anchor/ reporter, Ruschell Boone and meteorologist, Stacy-Ann Gooden will compete this year. This has developed into an intense rivalry with a lot of trash-talking by both contestants. The winner will walk away with the coveted Dutch Pot trophy and bragging rights; and will join the winner’s circle of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who participated three times, Jamaica’s MP Lisa Hanna, actor Leon from the movie Cool Runnings and Miss Universe Jamaica Kaci Fennell, just to name a few.
There’s also a Kids Zone offering face painting, rides and storytelling. Patrons can also stroll and discover unusual novelties, trinkets and their island t-shirts from a number of arts and crafts vendors willing to offer bargain prices for their wares.
The Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival, NY is sponsored by Moneygram, Laparkan Shipping, Tower Isle Patties, Continental Bakery, The Jamaica Tourist Board, HSBC bank and produced by Jamaican Jerk Festival NY, LLC in association with VP Records.
Tickets are valued at $36.00 in advance and $46.00 at the event. Online tickets are available for purchase at : https://jerkfestivalny.com/tickets/.