Saint Lucia’s three-day Food and Rum Festival attracted dozens of regional and international food, wine, and lifestyle journalists, as well as locals and visitors.

The festival was held from Friday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 14, and explored the island’s unique culinary experience, matching local chefs, culinary experts, bartenders and mixologists, against the best in the world. The festival also saw the addition of the inaugural Caribbean Rum Awards curated by Caribbean Journal.

The Saint Lucia Food and Rum Festival kicked off with a cocktail at the Bay Gardens Beach Resort on Friday, Jan. 12, followed by rum tastings, a “kabaway” challenge, and a massive concert in the village of Anse La Raye. The event featured Calypsonian Herb Black as well as Saint Lucian performers Mac 11 and Ezra the Fun Machine, among others. Burning Flames of Antigua, brought the event to a thrilling close.

Then on Saturday, the Rodney Bay strip in Gros Islet was transformed into a cultural and festive atmosphere featuring a street parade, while a number of restaurants in the area served up menus that were aligned to the festival. Over at the Ti Bananne restaurant, celebrity award-winning chef, TV host and restaurateur, Marcus Samuelsson from the United States, assisted by a team of local chefs, recreated President Barack Obama’s first state Dinner. This, with a local twist thrown in.

The Food and Rum festival reached its climax on Sunday at the historic Pigeon Island National Landmark where restaurateurs, chefs, and rum makers presented their fare for sampling to the public. Among the many attractions were “live” cooking demonstrations and a cocktail challenge sponsored by Saint Lucia distillers Chairman’s Reserve which was eventually won by Bertram Sydney of the Body Holiday.

Speaking ahead of the event, Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee acknowledged that the event had received the attention of the foreign press.

“We believe this opportunity will further enhance the destination’s profile and help show the diversity and beauty of Saint Lucia,” he said.

On Sunday, during the festival, Executive Chair of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) Agnes Francis noted that key to the success of the event was a marketing strategy involving writers, bloggers and food networks.

“Going forward the intention is to attract more television and networks to cover all the various components to bring it all together,” she said. “For us everything we thought that we wanted to achieve I think we’re there. Of course we have to go back to the drawing board, evaluate what we can do better, where we fell short, but generally I think we’re on to a good thing.”

Sergin John-Baptiste, marketing manager for Saint Lucia Distillers, the platinum sponsor for the event, said she was quite pleased with the way the event turned out and expects that it will grow.

“We were very excited about this, when we were first approached, and seeing how it all turned out gives us a sense of satisfaction that our confidence in the event was well placed,” she said.

Saint Lucia Distillers Bounty Rum Premium Gold won the “Best” prize in the “Best Gold Rum” category while Bounty Premium White came in second in the “Best White Rum” category. Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum came in second in the “Best Spiced Rum” category, while 1931 by St Lucia Distillers and Chairman’s Reserve The Forgotten Casks, placed second and third respectively in the “Best Rum” category. The People’s Choice best overall rum award went to 1931 by St Lucia Distillers.

The curtains came down on the Saint Lucia Food and Rum Festival with a performance by American R&B singer Freddie Jackson followed by an interactive Caribbean party with Teddyson John on the mainstage at Pigeon Island.