It is official! Sunday, October 25, 2020, will be celebrated in the United States as National Jamaican Jerk Day as approved by the USA National Day Archives.
Jamaican Jerk Festival USA, Inc., producers of the annual Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival in Florida, recently applied to the USA National Day Archives and received approval for the Jerk Day designation.
“National Jamaican Jerk Day will celebrate Jamaica’s unique way of seasoning and grilling foods, across the USA,” said Abdul Muhsin, chairman of the board and managing partner of Jamaican Jerk Festival USA, Inc., “Jerk cuisine has evolved from simple Jamaican street food to gourmet status in first-rate restaurants worldwide and celebrated through numerous jerk festivals around the globe. A National Jamaican Jerk Day will create a unified alliance to highlight the history, art and culture of Jamaican jerk cuisine in a prolific manner.”
The highlight of National Jamaican Jerk Day will be a two-hour live stream of the “Best of Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival” on the VP Records YouTube channel. Producers of the Florida, New York, and Canada Grace Jerk Festivals along with Orlando and Palm Beach festivals have partnered to celebrate the food, music, art and culture of jerk, in an unprecedented way. The production will feature exciting live performances, highlights from previous years, creative demonstrations by celebrity chefs, as well as features on vendors and sponsors.
Jamaican Jerk Festival USA, Inc. is currently in discussion with several corporations and government agencies who have expressed interest, especially with the current restrictions on events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is for National Jamaican Jerk Day celebrations to be energized at the retail level—with supermarket and Caribbean grocery stores offering discounts on jerk ingredients to encourage consumers to prepare their favorite jerk meals at home. Other ways to celebrate the day are under consideration and will be announced soon.
The excitement of the celebration will resonate globally through social media, as it is anticipated chefs, celebrities and the public will post their “Jerk creations” on various platforms with the hashtags #JamaicanJerkDay, #jerkday2020 and #NationalJerkDay.
For more information and updates on National Jamaican Jerk Day events, visit www.jerkfestival.com
