Barbados has been nominated in several categories at the prestigious World Culinary Awards, cementing the island’s status as the Caribbean’s premier culinary destination. Now in its fifth year, the World Culinary Awards is a global initiative that recognises and rewards excellence in the culinary industry through its annual awards programme.
For 2024, the Barbados Food and Rum Festival has once again been nominated in the category of Best Caribbean Culinary Festival, an accolade the festival previously received during the 2023 awards. Additionally, the city of Bridgetown received a nomination for Best Emerging Culinary Destination in the Caribbean, while the Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute at Barbados Community College has been nominated for Best Culinary Training Institution in the Caribbean.
Andrea Franklin, CEO of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI), expressed her delight at the nominations. “We at BTMI are beyond pleased that the Barbados destination has once again been considered by the global culinary awards.” Speaking specifically about the Barbados Food & Rum Festival, she continued: “After winning the award for Best Culinary Festival in the Caribbean in 2023, this year’s nomination is a fitting recognition of the concerted efforts BTMI continues to make to promote Barbados’ rich culinary heritage and vibrant food scene, through what has become one of the most sought-after festivals in the world. This nomination is also a token of appreciation to all of our sponsors, partner food establishments, culinary professionals, chefs, mixologists and other entities who work with us to make the Barbados Food & Rum Festival the ultimate dream weekend for food enthusiasts around the world.”
Aprille Thomas, BTMI’s Director of Public Relations and Communications and Director of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival, commented: “This back-to-back nomination for the Barbados Food and Rum Festival is a testament to the calibre of this exciting gourmet experience on the Barbados events calendar and reflects BTMI’s commitment to culinary excellence as a hallmark of our island’s tourism product. We look forward to another successful season when this year’s Barbados Food and Rum Festival takes place from 24-27 October.”
She added: “I am also thrilled by the nomination earned by the Jean and Norma Holder Institute of Hospitality, especially as BTMI is partnering with them to facilitate the training component of this year’s Junior Chef Cooking Competition.”
Under the theme “Feeding the Future”, the Young Chefs Cooking Competition is one of the highlights of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival. The competition seeks to empower the next generation of Barbados’ culinary talent by creating development and training opportunities for aspiring young chefs who compete against each other for the title of Young Chef Champion.
The 2024 edition of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival will also feature signature events such as Liquid Gold Feast, Rise & Rum Breakfast Party, Rum Route, Chef Classics, Oistins Under the Stars, Culture of Cuisine Talks and the newly added Bajan Fair, which will offer a wealth of family-friendly activities. The ever-popular community pop-up activities will also take place during the festival.
For more information on all the activities of the Barbados Food and Rum Festival, interested parties are invited to follow us on Instagram (@foodandrumbarbados) and Facebook (Barbados Food and Rum Festival).
The winners of the 2024 World Culinary Awards will be determined through a voting process. Voting is currently open and will close on 30 August 2024.
Source: Visit Barbados.