A Guide to the Caribbean Food and Wine Festival

The Caribbean Food and Wine Festival is the event JEPF has run more than any other. If you have not been, here is what the day is.

It is a food event first. The cooking is the reason people come back, and Taste of Jamaica, which has run ten times as its own event, now also appears as a booth at the bigger festivals. Go hungry and do a lap before committing, because the standard instinct of buying from the first stall is usually a mistake.

Wine is taken more seriously than the name suggests. It is a tasting-led event rather than a bar with a festival attached.

There is live music throughout. These have been live-music events from the start, not a sound system in a corner, and past bills have included performers like Richie Stephens at the Reggae Love Festival.

It is a family crowd, which is deliberate and which we protect. Some years children under twelve have been admitted free and parking has been free. Whether that applies to a given event is on that event's ticket page rather than something to assume.

Practical notes. Most of these run at outdoor venues, Howard County Fairgrounds most often, so dress for standing on grass in the sun. Cash is worth having even where cards are accepted. Arriving early is the difference between a relaxed afternoon and queuing.

Where the money goes: books and school supplies, scholarships, mentoring and leadership development for at-risk young people in Jamaica, and the permanent leadership training center we are raising funds to build. Officers take no salary, so ticket revenue is not paying anyone here.

Upcoming dates go on the events page when confirmed. If you would rather be told than keep checking, leave your details on the festival page.