Palm Beach Jerk Fest
By: Cerone White
The aroma of jerk-seasoned chicken and pork pervaded the air at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach this past Memorial Day, as food fans gathered for the 13th annual West Palm Beach Jerk Festival.
Even the blazing sun didn’t prevent festival-goers from coming out in large numbers to dig into some delicious Caribbean cuisines and spectacular music. This year’s line-up was nothing short of show-stopping. Grammy award winner Freddie McGregor took to the stage and showed why he’s still around and that his success was never determined by the music industry but because of his love for the music. Luciano, aka Jah Messenger, destroyed the stage with some his most popular songs like “Lord Give Me Strength,” “Over The Hills,” “It’s Me Again,” among many others. Elephant Man took to the stage and performed some his classic dancehall hits, while newcomer Dexta Daps held his own, among other south Florida acts.
While some festival-goers came for the music and to hear some of their favorite reggae and dancehall musical artists, all came for the star attraction – the food. There was a slew of jerked meat from local vendors, as well as other Caribbean specialties such as chicken soup, curry goat, curry chicken and crushed ice. Noticeably missing in action from the festival was the jerk ice cream, jerk popcorn, and jerk fish.
