Patrons were treated to a variety of products at the yam festival held recently in Trelawny.
-Contributed photo
Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE TRADITIONAL bun and cheese was dethroned on Easter Monday making way for roast yam and saltfish, which reigned as the meal of the day at the annual Trelawny Yam Festival.
There was yam, yam, yam and more yam along the roadways leading into the farming community of Albert Town, home of the festival.
The event unfolded in the small town square, which was closed off to vehicular traffic, and transformed into the festival village. Patrons had a wide range of activities to choose from, including a culinary cook-off, yam hill digging contest, the viewing of several booths displaying different goods and services, as well as
a bounce-about and a merry-go-round for
children.
"We created a bypass by using outlined areas such as Stettin, Cotton Tree and Ulster Spring, by doing this we could better accommodate the crowd," said Hugh Dixon, executive director of Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA), promoters of the event.
"This year we focused on community acceptance which meant greater participation from the residents. We haven't met any dissent from the community that was encountered last year," he explained. The executive director also expressed gratitude to the almost 40 sponsors for their support and lauded the success of the event to 'good advertising'. A Yam Farmers' Field Celebration, Yam King and Queen Pageant, Schools Essay, Poetry and Song Writing Competition and Yam Festival Road and Bicycle Race were held in the week leading up to the main event. The Best Dressed Donkey competition generated the most excitement.
The farmers are known to use their creativity to clothe their male donkeys in pants, shirts, caps and sunglasses, while the female donkeys are dressed in short skirts, blouses and even brassieres. In addition to entertainment, the objectives of the festival are to promote the consumption of yam, encourage the development of value added by-products to develop the local economy and promote the culture and heritage of Trelawny.
ALTERNATIVE BUSINESS ACTIVITY
It is aimed at providing the opportunity for investments as well as the development of alternative business activity and to promote south Trelawny and the Cockpit Country as a destination for community and eco-tourism.
"This year is an improvement in terms of availability of farm products especially yam," commented Michael Waite, a member of the Mountain Pioneer Farmers Group.
The group is an affiliate of STEA and is about twelve months old. Mr. Waite noted that their focus was production and the marketing of farm products and that the Agricultural Support Service Project (ASSP) is aiding the group. The festival was first held on May 23, 1997, as a fund-raising effort to help STEA run its environmental and economic activities in south Trelawny. The organisers broadened the scope and made it into an annual affair as result of the overwhelming response received.
