St. James 4-H Stages Annual Food Festival on Oct. 20

The St. James 4-H Parish Advisory Council will stage its third annual ‘Nyammins and Jammins’ food festival at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay on National Heroes Day, October 20.
The festival, first held in 2000, has become a much-anticipated event on the parish’s entertainment calendar.
At a press conference held at the Gloucestershire Hotel in Montego Bay yesterday (Oct. 2) to announce plans for the event, Calvin Brown, Chairman of the Parish Advisory Council, informed that a $2 million budget has been allocated for the staging of the event.
He noted that the festival was the club’s main fundraising event and the $500,000 in profit realised from last year’s festival had gone towards financing a number of projects in the parish.
Meanwhile, Janet Lowe-Wickham, Jamaica 4-H co-ordinator for the western region, told JIS News that the 2003 festival promised to be twice the fun and excitement of last year’s event. “We will be having exhibits from Trelawny, Clarendon, Hanover, St. James and from as far away as Portland. There will also be a special exhibit covering the western region”, she informed.
Some 60 exhibitors were expected to set up booths showcasing indigenous foods from across the island as well as a variety of manufactured products. There will also be displays of hand-painted clothing, art and craft, house-wares and agricultural and horticultural produce, and patrons will be able to access information on skills training and project financing.
Mrs. Lowe-Wickham said the day’s activities should get underway at 10:00 a.m. and full participation was expected from the 48 registered 4-H clubs in St. James, as well as other clubs across the island.
Activities will culminate with a live musical show featuring a number of top local artistes.