Foodies anticipate Grace Food Festival’s second serving
Published:Thursday | August 21, 2025 | 12:17 AM
The Grace Food Festival is back for its second staging this Saturday and is promising a flavour-filled celebration at the Hope Botanical Gardens, bringing together Jamaica’s finest culinary delights, vibrant entertainment, and wholesome family fun.
Building on the success of last year’s debut, which welcomed over 4,000 patrons, this year’s staging promises to be bigger with sizzling jerk huts, chilled smoothies and exciting kids’ attractions and pre-back-to-school essentials.
“Grace has always stood for quality, tradition, and community. The Grace Food Festival reflects all these values in one delicious day. We’re incredibly proud to bring back this one-of-a-kind experience where families can come together to enjoy not just our beloved Jamaican dishes, but also the vibrant culture that makes us who we are,” said Ingrid Medwinter, acting events and sponsorship manager, Grace Foods.
The food festival will feature a dynamic layout of themed villages, each designed to offer a unique experience for patrons of all ages. These include: The Artisan Village, which will showcase handcrafted Jamaican products and locally made treasures; The Sponsor Village, which will feature interactive booths with product sampling, games, a Grace shop and brand activations; The Kiddies Village, a dedicated play zone bursting with rides, face painting, prizes and treats; and The Grace Yaad, a back-to-school themed zone offering school supplies for sale and free medical and dental check-ups.
WHAT’S ON THE MENU
This year’s Grace Jerk Village and surrounding food court will serve up a mouthwatering menu curated by over 20 local vendors, including Prendy’s on the Beach, Stocolocco Smoothie Bar, Super Spicy Doubles, Chester’s Chicken Jamaica, Fyah Side Jerk and Bar, Pasta Place, Presto Pasta, Bulbie Soups, Grace Jerk Hut, Gloria’s Seafood, Mother’s Ja, Candy Fruit, Fruit Prints Jamaica, Tacbar Jamaica, Your Choice, Scoops Ice-Cream and Waah Gwaan Café.
“We are excited to bring Stocolocco’s signature fresh blends to the Grace Food Festival. Guests can look forward to our signature quencher series – smoothies, fresh juices and the mighty punch, specially curated at the request of Grace Foods using their Mighty Malt drink,” said Stokely Rose, co-principal, Stocolocco. “We’re proud to be selected to craft this feature drink for the festival! From tantalising fruit blends to revitalising punches, every cup is designed to cool you down, lift your mood, and keep you fuelled as you enjoy the best of Jamaica’s food culture.”
Smoothies, fresh juices, and punches on the menu include the tropi locco, strawberry lime quencher, piña colada quencher, mango mania quencher, peanut punch with spirulina, lemonade with lemongrass and pineapple and pineapple cucumber and mint.
Aiming to bring the flavours of Hellshire Beach to the Hope Botanical Gardens, Prendy’s on the Beach is ready to wow festival-goers at the second staging of the Grace Food Festival.
“Our aim is to deliver meals with a difference, and we’ll be doing just that with our special offerings — favourites our customers know and love! Patrons can stop by our booth to purchase our delicious fish box, mouthwatering lobster box or juicy butter garlic lobster, each served with a side of bammy, festival or plantain,” shared Managing Director Donette Prendergast.
Chef Christian Sweeney and the Grace Jerk Hut team are bringing bold, sizzling flavours to the festival, promising a menu packed with jerk-inspired creativity.
Menu highlights include the honey jerk pork and chicken, coconut festival, jerk cheeseburger, parmesan alfredo fries with chicken, shrimp or bacon and curried chickpea spring rolls.
“Get ready to ignite your taste buds! At the Grace Food Festival, our Grace Jerk Hut booth is serving up a sizzling menu that showcases the perfect blend of jerk flavour and creativity. From our signature Grace honey jerk meals to mouth-watering jerk chicken pasta, jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk cheese burgers, and curry chickpeas and more,” Chef Sweeney shared.
In addition to the culinary experience, festival-goers can look forward to live performances by Ding Dong, Christopher Martin, Rondell Positive, Prince Saj and Joby Jay.
To accommodate the growing demand, the festival has introduced a park and ride service in partnership with the Jamaican Urban Transit Company. Patrons can park at King’s House East Lawns and Jamaica College and hop on a shuttle to the event venue. Additional pedestrian shuttles will also run from Half-Way Tree, downtown Kingston and Portmore.
Pre-sold tickets are available for $1,000, while tickets purchased at the gate will cost $1,500. Children 12 years and under are free.