Palm trees and tiki torches will adorn the fest grounds to create a tropical atmosphere. New this year is a giant sand beach ready for you to play in – dig for buried treasure or make your own sand sculpture.
Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of African, French, Indian, Spanish, and other cuisines. A typical dish is “jerk” seasoned meats, which originally referred to the process of rubbing spices and acidic hot peppers onto strips of meat in order to tenderize and preserve them. Curry goat is very popular in the Caribbean and will be served at the event. Rice is a staple food eaten with various sauces and beans.
Six Caribbean-style food vendors will be at the event. District restaurant Atlante’ Trattoria will be serving curried goat among other tasty dishes. Long-time festival favorite Eudell Watts III will return with his award-winning pork sandwiches with Old Arthur’s BBQ sauce and his newest creation the Montego Bay burger, a Caribbean style sandwich with Jamaican sauce. In addition, Caribbean Cafe, Caribbean Kitchen, Hot Spot Island Cuisine, and Jamaican Jerk Hut will be at the event. Additional specialty Caribbean dishes will include: jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk wings, Jamaican meat pies, red beans & rice, fried bananas, fresh fruit smoothies, reggae punch, rasta lemonade, and Jamaican sodas.
In the open air marketplace find all kinds of unique items like tie dye clothing, sarongs and other apparel, cowry shell and hand-crafted jewelry, incense & oils, glow necklaces, Caribbean flags, wood carvings, drums, African wares, and sunglasses. Official Ya Maka My Weekend t-shirts will be sold for $12.
Quad City Arts will host a variety of island activities for kids from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday including sand painting, search for sand box treasures, and more.
