Kids perform at a past Anancy Festival. Photo courtesy of Jamaicans.com/Jeana Lindo
Plantation, Florida (June 13, 2022): Families across South Florida are invited to enjoy a day filled with Caribbean cultural activities as the annual Anancy Festival returns. On Saturday, June 25, 2022, in celebration of Caribbean-American Heritage Month, Island SPACE Caribbean Museum at the Broward Mall, in association with the Caribbean Edge Kids and Jamaicans.com, will host festivities from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Then, as part of Broward Mall’s Colors of Caribe community festival, Island SPACE will join the fun inside the mall, where a variety of other vibrant, Caribbean-themed activities will take place until 5:00pm.
At the start of the day’s events, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, children can participate in a talent show with singing, dancing and poetry, enjoy traditional West Indian ring games, interact with cultural characters, and play beloved island games like jacks and marbles. From 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, families are invited to explore the museum’s pop-up station inside the mall, featuring additional kid-friendly activities. Adults are welcome to try their hand at traditional Caribbean pastimes like ludo, dominoes and cards on the museum’s patio throughout the day.
Anancy (also spelled Anansi or Ananse), the spider man, a character from West African folklore, is a trickster known for outsmarting formidable opponents. Popular across the Caribbean and African diasporas, stories of his escapades typically teach valuable life lessons. The Anancy Festival was created by Xavier Murphy, founder of Jamaicans.com, educator Cathy Klein and Dr. Andrea Shaw, Dean of Nova Southeastern University’s Farquhar Honors College. Since 2008, the festival has connected children of Caribbean descent with the traditions of their ancestors through story, song, dance, art, crafts, poetry, book readings and other art forms.
Caribbean Edge Kids is a Facebook Live series dedicated to cultivating cultural intelligence in children. Its hosts will lead the children’s activities throughout the day.
Broward Mall is celebrating the Caribbean diaspora on Saturday, June 25 with Colors of Caribe, a day full of culture, fun and music, where the whole community can celebrate the spirit of the Caribbean. Colors of Caribe will take place from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, and feature Caribbean-centric entertainment and activities at Island SPACE Caribbean Museum and throughout the mall.
Support for Island SPACE has been provided by Broward Mall, Florida Power & Light Company, Grace Foods, the State of Florida, Department of State, Florida Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, Florida Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts and the following Funds at the Community Foundation of Broward: Mary N. Porter Community Impact Fund, Jack Belt Memorial Fund, Ginny and Tom Miller Fund, Stearns Weaver Miller Fund for the Arts, Harold D. Franks Fund.
Ready to hit the water this summer? While swimming and surfing make for a thrilling time, they aren’t the only ways to have a blast in the ocean. Check out these five awesome water sports you have to try—these fun and adrenaline-pumping activities are must-dos for active and adventurous folk who love the sea!
Paddle Boarding
Paddle boarding is a leisurely water sport where you stand, kneel, or lay on a specialty paddle board and use your arms or a paddle to propel yourself through the water. This activity is great for those who want to take it easy and admire the nearby scenery.
Water Skiing
Water skiing involves skiing on water rather than on a snowy hill. Hop on a ski or two (your choice), hitch yourself to a boat, and soar across the ocean at impressive speeds. This sport is great for those who like to move fast, but you have to have decent muscular strength and endurance if you want to ski without sinking beneath the waves.
Flyboard Flying
Have you ever wished you could soar majestically over the ocean like a seagull? Well, now you can, thanks to the invention of the flyboard! A flyboard is a water-propelled device with jet nozzles attached to a pair of boots. Using a flyboard, you can fly up to 72 ft in the air. It’s not ideal for those who fear heights, but it’s a gripping experience for those who don’t mind them!
Spinnaker Flying
A spinnaker is a sail that resembles a parachute. While they’re usually attached to boats, you can now attach them to yourself and paraglide across the sky above the sea, taking in the view and basking in the cool ocean breeze.
Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding is similar to water skiing in that you stand on a board and are towed across the waves by a boat. The difference? When you wakeboard, you’re encouraged to pull off as many aerial tricks as you can, from spins to twirls to jumps. If you want to show off your latest dance moves or gymnastic feats on the water, this is the sport for you!
Make the most of this summer by trying these five fun and unconventional water sports. You’ll find a new appreciation for the sea after seeing how much it has to offer!
June Celebrates Caribbean Heritage month and Third Horizon Film Caribbean Festival is ready to take it all in.
Third Horizon Film Festival (THFF) is an award-winning festival that has set a standard for showcasing quality and creativity as it presents a platform for Caribbean, diaspora, and underrepresented and marginalized global south voices in film. This year’s festival, the sixth one since THFF was founded in 2016, will open on June 23rd at PAMM, Pérez Art Museum Miami (1103 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33132), with the Florida premiere of Cette Maison(This House), the first feature film by Haitian-Canadian filmmaker Miryam Charles, which had its world premiere in February at the Berlin International Film Festival.
In addition to PAMM, THFF22 will also take place at Little Haiti Cultural Center (212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami, FL 33137), where most of the festival’s lineup of seven features, plus 46 short and medium-length films divided among ten separate programs, will be screened. There will also be several panel discussions and a lecture.
Since Third Horizon’s inception, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Romola Lucas have led a talented team of Caribbean people in presenting the four-day event. According to Lucas, who this year took the reins as the sole Festival Director, the films THFF screens represent “real stories that help you connect to yourself and help you to connect to other people.
The Caribbean consists of several countries separated by the ocean. In most circumstances, water brings people together; in the case of the Caribbean, it does not bring people together because it’s so prohibitively expensive to travel amongst the Caribbean countries, so these films are a way for you to travel throughout the Caribbean and its various diasporas.” Lucas also believes that THFF shows “how we are really connected. We may be on different pieces of rocks, talking in different colonial languages, but we are all one.”
Among the other features screening at THFF22 Is Lo que se hereda (It Runs in the Family), by Victoria Linares Villegas of the Dominican Republic. A personal documentary, the film explores family intrigue, history, and the intersection of sexual identity and culture. Using her family members, Linares Villegas traces her cousin’s life, the late filmmaker Oscar Torres, finding similarities between her reality and his.
Another feature being presented is Chee$e, the latest film by Trinidad and Tobago’s Damian Marcano. The drama, which had its world premiere in March at SXSW Film Festival, tells the story of a young man from a rural village who learns to make cheese yet must procure a way to earn more money, which leads him to the marijuana trade. The film includes the music of the popular music group Freetown Collective, who will give a live performance after the film.
Sarah Maldoror, Retrospective Filmmaker
Beyond the festival’s lineup of new films, there will be a retrospective of the work of the late pioneering filmmaker Sarah Maldoror (1929-2020). Born in France of Guadeloupean ancestry, Maldoror was the first Black woman to direct a fiction feature, Sambizanga (1973). A tribute to the anticolonial struggle that took place in Angola, Sambizanga will screen at THFF22 in a newly restored version, alongside nine other of Maldoror’s films. One of these, the documentary Aimé Césaire: Le masque de mots (Aimé Césaire: The Mask of Words), focuses on the founding father of the négritude movement, the Martiniquan poet Aimé Césaire.
The film was made at the seminal Négritude Conference in Miami in 1987, at which black thought leaders from around the world met to re-examine a philosophy that supports black equality and the value of being different. A panel discussion marking the 35th anniversary of the conference will take place and will include Annouchka de Andrade, the daughter of Sarah Maldoror, who will be at THFF22 to present her mother’s films.
Last year provided THFF with an opportunity to reach new audiences through a virtual component, which returns in 2022. A selection of films from the festival’s lineup will be available at www.horizonfilmfestival.com for a limited period following their initial screening.
“What is your favorite summer food?” For the Caribbean chef, remembering warm days in the sun and mouth-watering treats evokes the euphoria of street-side fare, ripe fruits picked straight from the tree and “having a lime” with friends.
Four culinary experts from across the diaspora share details on their favorite Caribbean food and cocktail recipes for summer and how they adapted these memorable flavors for a more sophisticated palette.
Bajan chef and author Taymer Mason came to the rescue of vegans craving Caribbean cuisine, which often leans meat- and seafood-centric, with her cookbook “Caribbean Vegan.” First published in 2010, the book has since become the standard for flavorful animal-free island fare. Now settled in London, Mason runs multiple businesses with her husband, including a buttermilk vegan pancake line, The Happy Mix Co.
For Mason, the summer’s best kept secret is crispy fish fritters. One bite instantly brings her back to childhood Saturday mornings enjoying the savory treat for breakfast. In her youth, her own recipe memorably drew long lines at school fundraisers with many patrons circling back again after their first bite. “As a Caribbean person, it’s almost a right of passage,” laughs Mason. “It’s something in our blood that makes us love this particular fritter. You will be able to smell it in the wind anywhere.”
Her new vegan take on the recipe substitutes unripe soursop for fish ― a surprising, yet delicious addition to summer tacos. When marinated and cooked, this fruit mimics the texture of white fish. The neutral flavor also makes it the perfect base for seasoning.
1 medium green (unripe) soursop, sliced into 2 × 5-inch pieces, seeds removed
½ cup Bajan seasoning or all-purpose seasoning blend
1 tablespoon neutral-flavored oil, plus 1 cup for frying
For the Beer Batter
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 nori sheets, toasted and crumbled
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons minced fresh herbs (try a mixture of thyme, parsley and marjoram)
2 green onions, minced
2 12-ounce bottles of lager beer
For Assembly
6 soft flour tortillas
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 avocado, sliced artfully
1 cup sliced red cabbage
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, chopped
What to do
To make the “fish,” salt the soursop and let stand for 2 hours on the counter.
Rinse the soursop and pat dry. Coat with Bajan seasoning and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Leave to marinate overnight or for at least one hour when in a rush.
To make the batter, combine the flour, nori, onion powder, seasoning salt, pepper, baking powder, herbs, green onion and beer. Mix well and allow to stand on the counter for 15 minutes before using.
Heat 1 cup of oil in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until hot, about 10 minutes.
Dip the seasoned soursop in the batter and carefully place it in the hot oil. Shallow-fry until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. The batter should puff up a bit. Fry two pieces at a time. Transfer the cooked soursop to paper towels to drain.
To serve, layer the “fish” in the tortillas and add some of the suggested zesty toppings to really sizzle up your vegan tacos!
Born in Grenada but raised in the West Indian neighborhood of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York, Rachael Findley traveled back to the island at 23 to take mixology classes, eventually joining the team at the luxurious Silversands Grenada hotel. With her custom creations, she quickly stacked up the accolades, including recognition at the 2020 Flavors of Grenada Mixology Competitions.
“I am most interested not so much in replicating classic cocktails, but instead in creating something new and expanding upon the flavors,” she said. Findley now works for Cannes Brulees Rums while growing her personal brand and fostering a tea business on the side.
For the award-winning mixologist, the allure of summer always tasted like the season’s selection of tropical fruits. Her Vitality frozen cocktail encapsulates a cornucopia of fruity flavors, featuring mango and guava. It’s the perfect refreshing treat for a day in the summer sun.
VITALITY
Photo: Courtesy of Rachael Findley
What you need
120 milliliters light rum
80 milliliters mango puree
80 milliliters guava puree
60 milliliters lime juice
40 milliliters banana liqueur
40 milliliters melon liqueur
2 teaspoons of grenadine
Cherries and orange wheels, as garnish
What to do
Separate rum into two 60 ml portions.
Add the first portion to a blending cup with ice, mango puree and banana liqueur then blend. Place to the side.
Blend the second portion of rum with guava puree and ice. Set aside.
Blend the melon liqueur and lime with ice and set aside.
Drizzle the teaspoon of grenadine into a glass and layer with the rum and half of the blend of mango and banana liqueur.
Add in the melon liqueur and lime blend.
Layer some of the rum and guava mixture. Then some of the mango blend. Continue alternating until the glass is full.
Chef Danny Peñalo Dominguez is the executive chef of Yarumba Restaurant and Lounge in Miami Gardens, Florida. He brings fusion flair to traditional Dominican cuisine, envisioning combinations like snapper stuffed with Thai rice and authentic green plantain mofongo. “Food is one of the most important things when we talk about culture,” Peñalo Dominguez said. “Our food has Spanish, African, Chinese, Lebanese and indigenous Taino influences. I’ve been able to reach a lot of people promoting our gastronomy.”
His summers in the Dominican Republic were spent visiting extended family and whipping up delicious dishes in the kitchen. When it came to Caribbean food and cocktail recipes for summer, he most looked forward to fresh-caught seafood and ripe fruit ― especially the iconic Dominican “banilejo” mango. “We had six mango trees around my house, so we had a lot of mangoes,” he laughed. Peñalo Dominguez combines both with his delicious take on a tropical ceviche. He pairs the dish with a classic Dominican “Morir Soñando,” or “Die Dreaming” drink, a refreshing combination of milk and citrus.
Tropical Shrimp Ceviche
Photo: Courtesy of Danny Peñalo Dominguez
What you need
2 pounds of extra jumbo shrimp without tails, deveined
1 small mango, ripe
¼ white or red onion
¼ red pepper
¼ green pepper
¼ yellow pepper
1 bunch fresh cilantro
16 medium limes
2 ounces extra virgin olive oil
Thyme
Bay leaves
Kosher salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
What to do
Note: Make sure to buy all products fresh and wash them properly.
Peel mango and dice small.
Cut onions and peppers into small cubes. Reserve everything, including the mango, in the refrigerator.
Squeeze all of the limes and set the juice aside.
Cut shrimps in half lengthwise and set aside.
In a medium pot, add water, salt, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Add shrimp and cook for 30 seconds. Drain then add shrimp to a bowl with ice to chill.
When the shrimp are cold, drain all water and any remaining ice. Add the lime juice. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Chiffonade (finely slice) the fresh cilantro.
Add the remaining ingredients to shrimp, mixing well.
Serve with plantain chips and enjoy!
Morir Soñando (Die Dreaming)
Photo: Courtesy of Danny Peñalo Dominguez
What you need
6 large oranges
1 ½ cups evaporated milk
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 limes
2 cups of ice
What to do
Juice the oranges to produce about 1.5 cups (260ml) of juice.
Pour the evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla, orange and lime juice into a pitcher and stir until combined. Add ice and stir to cool.
Use an orange wheel to decorate (optional). Serve and enjoy.
Ital cuisine may have its origins in the Rastafari faith, but the style of food prep emphasizing natural, unprocessed ingredients proves equally healthful for all who try it.
In addition to running a successful catering service in New York City, Jamaican chef Troy Levy is spreading the delicious gospel of ital cooking, working on his own cookbook to bring these authentic recipes to the world.
For Levy, summer couldn’t come fast enough in his youth. He spent many at his family’s large farm in Glengoffe, Jamaica. Run by his Rastafarian uncles, this was where he first fell in love with the unadulterated flavors of the land, from bananas to breadfruit. He particularly reminisces about the spicy pumpkin soup he would enjoy after days by the river. Since becoming a chef, he has adapted the original recipe into an elegant bisque while still paying homage to the natural approach to cooking he learned from his family. He named his version of the dish “His Majesty Bowl” after Haile Selassie, late Emperor of Ethiopia.
“His Majesty Bowl”
Photo: Courtesy of Troy Levy
What you need
1 ½ cups pumpkin
1 cup sweet potato
1 cup coco
1 cup dasheen
½ teaspoon cumin
Sea salt or Himalayan salt to taste
2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
¼ cup scallion
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups fresh coconut milk
1 cup veggie stock (optional)
½ corn on the cob
For garnish
½ tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice
2 or 3 button mushrooms, sliced
1 Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, seeded and sliced
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a large metal spoon, scoop out the seeds of the pumpkin. Use a sharp knife to cut slices of pumpkin, sweet potato, coco and dasheen to 1-inch thick.
Place pumpkin and sweet potato slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and rub on both sides. Sprinkle with cumin and Himalayan salt to taste. Add one clove of garlic to the pan. Roast for 18-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of pumpkin slices. (Check doneness after 15 minutes.)
Grill fresh corn cobs on the open flame of a stove top or grill. Cool for 10 minutes. With a sharp chef’s knife, cut off the corn kernels.
In a medium bowl, combine cilantro, lemon or lime juice, sliced pepper and a pinch of Himalayan salt (optional). Toss very well and set aside for garnish.
In a blender, add roasted pumpkin and sweet potato slices, coconut milk, the unroasted clove of garlic, scallion and thyme. Puree until creamy. Add vegetable stock or more coconut milk as needed for consistency.
For pastry chef Jamal Lake, food always tells a story. “When you try someone’s food, you understand where they’re from and what they passed down for generations,” said the native U.S. Virgin Islander, who originally fell in love with sweets while baking alongside his mom every Sunday.
After moving to West Palm Beach, Florida, Lake opened Ganache Bakery in 2011 with his wife Nishanee, creating cupcakes, tarts, macaroons and custom cakes. In 2018, he found more sweet success after becoming a finalist on Food Network’s “Halloween Baking Championship,” attracting acclaim for his raspberry passion fruit petit fours and green velvet cakes. After the show, Lake continued creating unique concoctions.
Lake treasures the warm summer days he once spent in the U.S. Virgin Islands enjoying freshly-picked fruits. The season’s most desirable treat was always a succulent mango. “We made mango juice, spicy mango curry, mango salad with herbs and sometimes we got creative and even made mango tarts.” Lake’s own mango tart recipe incorporates fresh, ripe mangoes and citrus layered within flaky homemade pastry.
Mango Tart
Photo: Courtesy of Jamal Lake
What you need:
For the crust
8 ounces sugar
1 pound butter at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
1 ½ pounds flour
¼ teaspoon salt
For the filling
3 cups diced mangos, ripe but firm
⅓ to ½ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
What to do
To make the dough for the crust, cream together the sugar and butter. Add eggs and extracts, and mix until combined.
Add salt and flour, and mix just until combined.
Place the dough in plastic wrap and press until fairly flat. Refrigerate for a few hours to chill. Working with a cold dough works best.
To make the filling, combine the sugar, mango, lime juice, cornstarch and water in a small pot. Stir well and cook on medium heat until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat then stir in the extracts. Set filling aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove dough from the refrigerator, unwrap it and place it onto a floured surface.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is about ⅛ inch thick. Place into a 10-inch tart pan, trimming excess dough from around the edges. Fill the prepared tart pan with enough of the filling to come almost to the top without overflowing.
Cut strips of the remaining dough then use them to cover the top of the tart with a lattice pattern. Trim edges and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. For muffin- or mini-sized tarts, reduce baking time to 10 to 15 minutes.
Cool the tart completely then remove from the pan and enjoy!
View of “Cyah Stall” exhibition at CreativSpace
in Kingston, Jamaica, 2022.
Photo: Blaqmango
Dancehall culture represents more than just the music. The genre originated in the streets, corner bars, and, of course, dance halls of Jamaica. With the parties came the promotional posters — attention-grabbing sheets of street art stapled to telephone poles, their animated lettering, vibrant colors and playful graphics interwoven into the cityscape. Dancehall art posters are flourishing in new, innovative ways, as the next wave of creators explores different facets of the distinctive style.
Graphic Evolution
Jamaican party posters drew their popularity, in part, from their accessibility. “It was a way of being out there that everyone could afford,” said sign artist Rushane “Bug” Drummond. As these cultural canvases rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, artists like Nurse and Denzil “Sassafras” Naar became two of the more popular creators. Known for their graffiti-esque lettering and use of color, they ushered in their own brand of notoriety. Later, as performers like Vybz Kartel became popular in the 2000s and as the dancehall ecosystem continued to evolve, we’ve seen those changes leak over to graphic marketing.
Drummond, known for his combination of hand-painted artfulness and prolific production, is among that next generation of creators. Coming from a family of artists, he apprenticed for a respected local one, Allan Thomas, before stepping out on his own. “It shows a culture. It’s blood, sweat and tears,” Drummond said about the importance of the tradition of dancehall art posters.
As we speak via Zoom, I can see his posters pasted to the ceiling behind him like a Sistine Chapel mural, capturing his reverence for the art form and its long history. One reads “Scrub-A-Dub Bus Ride” in white and seafoam blue bubble letters. Another one has the word “Flames” in yellow letters dripping into the shape of a lapping blaze. The collage tells a collective story of his work over time. “It’s not a thing that happened overnight,” Drummond said. “Each generation adds to the last.”
Making Statements
Photo: Tracey Thorne
Industrial paint on concrete. Photo: Yannick Reid
Multidisciplinary artist Matthew McCarthy revels in the style’s more rebellious side through his street signs, murals and installations. Critiquing social issues that affect dancehall and Jamaica as a whole, from inequity to violence, his designs portray intricately animated lettering spelling out patois phrases and folk idioms.
McCarthy, who grew up among carpenters, was drawn to public and street art by the images of independence that surrounded him. “Jamaica had a street art culture, and we weren’t just trying to do it like American culture. It was more that local people were trying to figure out a kind of place in public space.” Plastered on electrical poles, fences and walls, the art had what McCarthy describes as a “DIY punk mentality” inspired by the proximity to Rastafarian counter-establishment ideas. He and other artists help push the boundaries of dancehall culture. “There’s always a point in time where individuals have to break out,” he said.
Photo: Adam Wanliss
With experimentation, dancehall art began to blend with and influence other mediums. As a graphic artist based in Jamaica who specializes in modern hand-lettered designs, Samantha Hay has found herself incorporating dancehall iconography into her work. Though her more minimalist approach primarily focuses on letters, they never sit still, swirling or vibrating throughout her compositions.
“A lot of people don’t realize that Jamaica has had extensive use of typography in our designs for many years,” she points out. “Dancehall posters really show typography as a unique form.” Hay eagerly adapts this homegrown pop art, despite its historical marginalization within the Jamaican arts community, because for her, nothing quite captures the spirit of Jamaican ingenuity like the language. As one of her designs declares, you must tun yuh han and mek fashun. “We look at what we have and where a lot of people see a lack, for us it inspires innovation,” she says.
Dancehall posters from graphic designer Samantha Hay feature unique typography designs. Photo: Courtesy of Samantha Hay
The Mainstream and New Media
Jamaican poster art periodically gains mainstream recognition as an art form. In February, some of Hay’s work premiered at the “Cyah Stall: Dancehall Aesthetics, Language and Resistance” exhibition, which was co-curated by Winston Campbell and Katrina Coombs. They sought to curate artists who were pushing the envelope. “With the increased access to computer technology, we’ve seen more people getting into designs and the aesthetics have been shifting,“ said Campbell, his voice warm with fond memories of weekly dancehall parties from his youth in West Kingston.
He notes the influence of outside music cultures, like hip-hop and trap music, and the bling aesthetic. “It’s not so much about the information in a textual way, but the lavish lifestyle, flossing culture, and how to convey that through the imagery and the way that the text is presented,” he said. Coombs sees this evolution as integral to dancehall culture. “It is a rebellious music within our culture,” she said. “They are creative and not limiting themselves; and in terms of how they present themselves to the audience, the sky is the limit.”
Artwork by Robin Clare
Robin Clare is one innovator, bringing her dancehall-inspired art into the animation space. Originally from Jamaica and now residing in Australia, Clare said that after leaving the island, her art “was, in part, a nostalgic thing. Dancehall takes over your body and your mind, and you kind of want to live in the sound and the moment.”
Her work certainly captures that spirit. Like the original hand-drawn party posters, her designs are bright, two-or-three-tone animations with sharp, contrasting colors. GIF animation allows her work to showcase the movements and expressions of dancers mid-action: hips shaking, legs kicking, performing moves straight from the dance floor. She and other artists show a new dimension to dancehall artwork and imagery, using technology and social media to bring dancehall from the streets into cyber spaces.
Artwork by Robin Clare
Artwork by Robin Clare
Still, even as dancehall art moves forward, it pays homage to the people that came before. Like the music that inspired it, the art form “is rebellious,” says Campbell. For Clare and the many lovers of this unique aesthetic, it is “a way to stay connected to home.”
It’s virtually impossible to pick up a surfboard and master the skill. It takes time and practice to even stand upright on the board. However, if you are skilled in this manner, you may try some exercises to improve your craft. Yoga and surfing go hand in hand, considering yoga helps improve aspects of yourself that aid in the water. These reasons why yoga makes you a better surfer explain why they are worth establishing in your daily workouts.
Reduces Injuries
A calm morning yoga routine is appropriate for preparing the muscles, ligaments, and mind before grabbing your board. Likewise, a relaxing nighttime session reduces muscular pain and protects fatigued surfers from injury. Yin and Restorative yoga methods are excellent for releasing tight muscles. Poses that can last over five minutes will rejuvenate the entire body.
Flexible & Stronger
Surfing is about more than just paddle force; it’s also about a range of intricate movements that require outstanding flexibility. Lateral stretches, forward bends, and posture exercises provide your body the nimbleness to ride the wave. You can test your flexibility on land with a longboard if you need it since that’s the closest thing to surfing you can get besides actually doing it.
Additionally, you can do yoga in a manner that incorporates muscular strength training. Yoga proves it’s equally beneficial to using light weights or resistance bands. Holding positions is also helpful for building strength, considering the tension your muscles endure if you don’t have any weights.
Improves Your Focus
When you’re out on the water, you need to react instantly. Furthermore, you must also continually pay attention to the water and move accordingly to position yourself for catching waves. With the sharpest attention and the fastest thinking, the surfer will undoubtedly be ahead of the curve.
Yoga enables you to have a clear focus and inner calmness. This helps you concentrate your thoughts, making it easier for you to give complete attention to any circumstance in the water.
Strengthens Lung Capacity
Athletes strive to expand their lung capacity to improve their performance. Yoga breathing techniques aid in increasing lung capacity. Breath and movement are supposed to be in sync during a yoga lesson. This aids in developing mindful breathing and exhalation, and bodily awareness.
Boosts Confidence
Finally, yoga can help you improve your self-confidence, giving you the motivation required to tackle the most challenging tasks. Yoga allows you to listen to your body. If you ignore what your body is telling you, you open yourself up to failure and possible injury. An attentive mind goes a long way to recognizing your abilities and building that self-confidence.
Explaining the reasons why yoga makes you a better surfer proves how valuable an exercise regimen it can be if you are an avid surfer. Even if it doesn’t help you ride that monster wave, it’s a helpful method to stay in peak athletic condition.
Each year, the sights, sounds and scents of summer are brought to vibrant, living color by the Caribbean-American cultural events held across the United States. From concerts to food festivals and carnivals, island culture is on full display for a diverse audience.
These Caribbean festivals and events, however, provide more than just a good time. They serve as major economic engines for a whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Calle Ocho
Many of these events emerged from humble beginnings, like in 1978 when members of the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana launched a neighborhood street festival highlighting the rich Cuban-American enclave in Miami known as Calle Ocho.
Calle Ocho “has become a major economic driver for the area, not only for small business on 8th Street, but for the surrounding community,” said Mayra Hernandez, communications manager for the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana. They estimate the event overall generates an economic impact of $40 million for artists, vendors and small businesses throughout Greater Miami.
The greatest financial influence of such events, however, is arguably unquantifiable, as they also develop brand recognition. “We generate a substantial amount of awareness for Little Havana,” Hernandez said. “Everyone knows Calle Ocho. It’s a name recognized on a national level.”
Haitian Compas Fest
Building brand power was the goal of the annual Haitian Compas Festival, which resumed this past May in Miramar, Florida, following a two-year hiatus caused by the COVID pandemic. This year’s event showcased hot Compas music acts such as Master Brain, Black Mayco, Nicky Mixx and Andybeatz. Providing a dependable platform to promote such stars is vital, said Caribbean Festival and Event Producer Alexandre Ade.
Of the event first established in 1998 to celebrate Haitian Flag Day weekend, he said, “the Haitian Compas Festival has been the go-to event of the year in the Haitian music industry since its inception… We want to help make the music more commercial, and for our artists to be able to expand their horizons.”
Photo: Courtesy of Haitian Compas Festival
The events were extraordinarily important this year as Haiti’s national Kanaval celebrations ― usually the biggest stage for Compas musicians ― was canceled due to COVID-19 and ongoing economic concerns. “So providing our platform definitely helped the whole Compas music industry,” Ade said. “Especially the musicians that we petitioned to travel here for the first time to perform on U.S. soil. The event has become a staple in their career.”
Front of House
The festival circuit is certainly valuable for artists like Robert “Dubwise” Browne, a touring guitarist based in Kingston, Jamaica. He has performed at the popular Caribbean stage show Best of the Best in Miami several times, backing dancehall acts such as Shaggy and Super Cat. He, too, relies on cultural festivals to generate income. When the pandemic caused the cancellation of large events in 2020, Browne’s earnings took a major hit. “In Jamaica, we have a saying, ‘One, one cocoa full basket,’ which simply means every little amount adds up,” he said. “The same applies to these festivals.”
Pursuing pop-up opportunities doesn’t come without challenges for vendors as participation often requires large upfront investments. To promote her Caribbean food catering service Strictly Vegan Cuisine, Leonie McDonald, of Jamaica, makes sacrifices to afford pricey vendor spaces at large events like the reggae-centric Caliroots Festival in Monterey, Calif. She often recruits family members like her husband, Lloyd of the Wailing Souls, to serve customers and uses social media to recruit paid employees and volunteers.
She also chooses to camp out instead of booking nearby hotels as they often increase their prices during the season. For her, these careful strategies pay off. “I do not participate in any events with less than 10,000 people,” she said. “I work hard and I pay myself.”
Photo: Justin Crail, Courtesy of Robert “Dubwise” Browne
However, fellow caterer Alreca Whyte argues the math may not work for everyone. As the owner of Chef Alreca’s Catering, a Caribbean fusion catering and pop-up company based in Alameda, California, she often found the festival circuit prohibitive. “Vending fees, insurance and permitting fees are also costly,” she said. “And many times smaller businesses cannot compete.”
Behind the Scenes
Balancing accessibility for vendors and attendees with high production expenses remains a consistent challenge for festival managers. Overhead costs run high, with payments required for permits, city services, utilities and temporary infrastructure. Top-dollar performers also bring big costs for concerts, said Ade. “When you’re taking on 10 to 20 bands, and they have 10 to 18 people on their crew, with flights, hotels and per diem, it all adds up.” Following the pandemic, organizers also faced reduced support from corporate sponsors “because a lot of these corporations are still not back 100%,” Hernandez said.
Yet, to those working behind the scenes, festivals are more than a bottom line. For Ade, the Haitian Compas Festival provides a celebratory arena for the Haitian diaspora. “That’s the foundation of what Compas Fest was built on,” he said. “We want our culture to be known and appreciated.”
Carnaval Miami also provides funding for Kiwanis Club of Little Havana’s many charitable initiatives, including scholarships and education programs. “And all the events are run by the volunteers dedicating over 15,000 to 20,000 volunteer hours a year,” said Hernandez. “In the end, this is all truly a labor of love.”
Around the world, the Caribbean is recognized as the birthplace of rum. But there is another distinctive form of booze in the region beloved by visitors and locals alike ― beer. From crisp, ice-cold lagers offering relief from the hot sun to dark malty stouts spicing up punch and Easter bun, Caribbean beer brands are inextricably linked with island life.
It seems every Caribbean country boasts its own native brew. Aruba has the multi-award winning all-malt Pilsener Balashi, Haiti favors their own Prestige lager, and the domestically produced Belikin dominates Belize.
This love affair with beer didn’t happen overnight. Records show British beer was a staple for sailors traveling through the Caribbean in the 1600s, though it was prone to spoil. In 1801, Guinness began crafting a sweet West Indies porter infused with extra hops so the flavor would survive the arduous five-week voyage across the Atlantic.
The Major Players
Local beers finally emerged in the late 1800s when R. Crang opened his first ale and porter brewery in Kingston, Jamaica. Others would soon follow suit, growing into today’s most prominent brands: Jamaica’s Red Stripe, Trinidad and Tobago’s Carib Beer and the Dominican Republic’s Presidente.
Photo: Christopher Wright
Cooling palms and quenching thirst around the world, these Caribbean beer brands established the international flavor profile of a classic Caribbean beer: often a pale, smooth, softly sweet lager or pilsner. Their mild, refreshing taste pairs well with Caribbean eats from fresh seafood to heavy stews. On a more fundamental level, these beers seem to distill the romance of the region, promising sunshine and good times. It’s the beer you want to drink after climbing to the top of Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica or chipping down the streets in full carnival regalia in Trinidad.
Carib Beer understands this nostalgic power — its iconic gold-and-blue bottle connoting Caribbean waters and year-round sunshine. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, the brand is determined to share this spirit across the diaspora. “If you can’t make it to the Caribbean, we’ll bring the Caribbean to you,” said Carib Brewery USA President and CEO James Webb.
Asa Sealy, marketing director at Carib Brewery USA, said familiarity is a huge seller. “So much of our population has migrated from the Caribbean region, and they long for those products that bring them back to home,” he explained. “One of the biggest initiatives for us is to mine that Caribbean pride and use that brand that we so dearly represent to connect with the diaspora.”
Alongside these titans, however, something else is quietly brewing. You can taste the future of Caribbean beer while sitting on the veranda of the Constant Spring Golf & Country Club clubhouse in Kingston, Jamaica. Here, patrons enjoy a local craft offering that can’t be found in corner shops, supermarkets or typical tourist haunts. Delightful and complex new flavors flow from the gleaming distillery pots of the Clubhouse Brewery ― one of Jamaica’s first craft breweries. As the largest of its kind in Jamaica, Clubhouse Brewery serves 17 varieties, including IPAs, hoppy lagers, pilsners, amber ales, porters and stouts from its taps. Among them is the signature Blue Mountain Coffee Porter, which features a caffeinated kick.
The brewery was founded in 2021 by brewmaster Devon Francis, who boasts a 25-year career working in Jamaica, Uganda, Kenya, The Seychelles and Germany. He’s the mastermind behind recent innovations at Red Stripe, from developing the popular Red Stripe Sorrel and Lemon Paradise beers to adding cassava to the brewing process in an effort to support local small farmers.
Francis asserts that our home-bred concoctions are more robustly flavored than popular counterparts from the north. Compared to Budweiser, Miller and Coors, he said beers “like Red Stripe are definitely more flavorful than the standard American beers. Budweiser uses 50% rice in the brewing, so it is very, very watery.” (And yes, watery is a technical term used to describe beer.)
Despite this stellar reputation, Francis believes it’s time for Caribbean brewmasters to serve up new, bold experiences. “Consumers are searching for more,” Francis said as he sipped beer in the balmy evening air. “There is a part of the demographic who actually want that hoppier, more flavorful exotic beer. For years, they have been fed a standard diet of Red Stripe and Heineken. But the young millennials coming up latched onto craft beer because of its range.”
You could witness this demand first hand this past April when 350 patrons packed into the Jamaica Food and Drink Kitchen for the Kingston City Beer Fest. The events celebrated the growing beer industry with seminars and mixology sessions, 20 beer samplings and multiple food pairing stations. The emergence of a number of microbreweries is spurring this consistent growth.
A home brewing hobby snowballed into a brand for one exhibitor, Christian Sale, founder and head brewer of Kingston-based Trouble’s Brewing!! His interest ignited following a 2017 trip to Belgium. “But the biggest spark came when we were invited to Oktoberfest Kingston in 2019, and we sold out all of our beer four hours into an eight-hour event,” he said. “Other brands of beer were there, including some imports, but the line was only at our booth.”
His most popular brews include Hop Steppa, a copper-colored IPA featuring pronounced, yet rounded, citrus, bitter and fruity notes. Another favorite is Shine Eye Gyal, a blonde ale with a layered, balanced maltiness accompanied by a subtle earthy hop character. The best part, said Sale, “is getting to serve beer and interacting with other beer lovers.”
Caribbean beer’s real secret ingredient? “It’s the people,” asserts Francis. “The people are central in crafting the environment that makes our beer unique.” Between the new craft breweries and stalwart brands, it’s clear they are ready to serve up experiences that are refreshing, relaxing and completely Caribbean.
The Thursday night RAM Vodou Rock party at the Hotel Oloffson
Nowhere else on earth embodies the term “party central” quite like the Caribbean. Reasons for this are largely rooted in the region’s raucous Carnival celebrations and their attendant fetes. At the same time though, you shouldn’t sleep on the Caribbean club scene. Nightlife options sizzle throughout the West Indies. Check out these spots for some of the best nightlife in the Caribbean.
Port-au-Prince
In my experience, Haiti’s capital is easily among the top two or three destinations for the best nightlife in the Caribbean. This is especially true on Thursday nights.
The fun starts in the swanky lobby bar at the Marriott Port-au-Prince, a prime spot to see and be seen while enjoying a Barbancourt cinq étoiles with lime on ice.
Drinks are served shaken or stirred at the Marriott Port-au-Prince’s La Sirene Lobby Bar. Photo: Marriott Port-au-Prince/SBPR Corp.
Next up: La Reserve, a cool and smooth jazzy spot tucked away in a forested area of the upscale enclave of Petion-Ville. Dinner here comes with live jazz seasoned sweetly with undertones of reggae. Dancing is often part of the dessert.
More dancing awaits at Brasserie Quartier Latin. The house band here, Melao Latino, delivers seductive salsa direct from Cuba in a romantic outdoor patio setting that shimmers with flickering candles and festive white twinkle lights.
The last stop of the night brings the most fun and excitement. The Thursday night RAM Vodou Rock party at the Hotel Oloffson is one of the Caribbean’s legendary weekly parties. RAM (the band) is the brainchild of Richard A. Morse (R.A.M.). A Puerto Rico-born Haitian-American raised in Connecticut, Morse found his way to the land of his mother’s birth, Haiti, in the late 1980s. He assumed the lease on the Hotel Oloffson in 1987 and by 1990 RAM was born. RAM Vodou Rock parties have been going ever since.
RAM’s musical style was born out of Haiti’s mizik rasin movement, which also started in the late 1980s. The roots style combines traditional Vodou ceremonial music with rock and roll. This has parallels with Ray Charles’ revolutionary method of fusing gospel with rhythm and blues in the 1950s.
Just like Ray Charles, RAM’s music compels you to dance. Doing so in Hotel Oloffson’s nineteenth century gothic surroundings just adds to the spellbinding nature of what, for me, is one of the best nights out that you can have in our islands.
Enjoying the fullness of the Port-au-Prince nightlife experience is also easier than you might think. Agence Citadelle, one of the oldest and most revered tour operators in Haiti, offers a nightlife tour of Port-au-Prince that includes stops at La Reserve, Quartier Latin and Hotel Oloffson. Experienced guides and full security are always included, of course.
The party scene is popping on both sides of the border that separates French St. Martin from its Dutch sister state to the south. But the French side is where I’ve enjoyed most of my nightlife fun.
Friday nights are especially sweet for those who make their way to Stachey’s Hut. The informal bar and nightclub doubles as the home of its proprietor, Stachey, who originally hails from Dominica. That little tidbit offers the big reason I love Stachey’s: Bush Rum.
True to his Dominican roots, Stachey offers an array of homemade bush rum creations, each of them uniquely bombastic. He even uses herbs and spices imported directly from Dominica to season his blends, ensuring optimal authenticity.
On Fridays, live reggae bands keep the dance floor packed until the wee hours — truly a magical and uniquely West Indian clubbing experience beneath the stars.
Martinique
The makeshift bar of Garage Popular 1 is a favored hangout spot for delicious hand-crafted drinks and snacking. Photo: Steve Bennett/UncommonCaribbean.com
On its surface, Martinique might not seem like the kind of destination with a hot, urban club scene. The island is lush and mountainous with sedate seaside fishing villages and even quieter mountain towns dotting its landscape. More than 200 miles of alluring coastline feature jaw-dropping beaches with sand ranging in hue from ebony to volcanic gray and even brilliant white.
In the middle of all this quintessential quaintness and natural beauty lies Fort-de-France, Martinique’s bustling capital city. There, amid the gritty streets, partygoers can double their pleasure at Garage Popular 1 and 2.
As its name suggests, Garage Popular is basically an old garage in the heart of Fort-de-France that’s been converted into a cozy little bar. Patrons spill out onto the sidewalk and into the street enjoying Biere Lorraine, an assortment of fine rhum Agricole options, cocktails and eats.
To experience the Garage Popular club scene, though, you need to head a few doors down to Garage Popular 2. The steamy dancefloor here attracts all manner of sexy locals and visitors alike. The soundtrack is a steady stream of international beats with a good dose of soca, dancehall and hip hop thrown in. Prepare to dance close and cozy in an atmosphere that’s all kinds of uninhibited.
A wedding. Flowing white gowns and carefully tailored suits, closest friends and family all together, and the beginning of a new life with your chosen partner. It’s undoubtedly one of the biggest events you will ever plan, with daydreams of what the perfect day will look like often beginning to take shape far before you ever meet your spouse-to-be.
Though, with countless elements to handle — from the dress to venues to flowers, decor, lighting and so much more — it’s important to have a strong coordinator by your side… or to completely take over. A great option is to hire an A-to-Z wedding planner who will manage all of the details of your nuptials so all you have to focus on is the big “I do.”
Kimberley Dunkley Watkins of Dragonfly Experiences knows this need well. The dynamic businesswoman has established herself as one of Jamaica’s top-rated wedding and event planners, having attracted loyal returning customers and an elite roster of on-call vendors. Quick on her feet and well composed, she is a meticulous planner, often answering questions you didn’t even know to ask, like which desserts work best in various climates.
The ability to hone a creative and artistic style in her pursuit of event planning was initially what drew Watkins to weddings in particular. “I wouldn’t consider myself an event designer, but I’ve always had a fascination with design,” she said. Jamaica itself also lends inspiration and the island plays an essential role as an equally beautiful and challenging backdrop. “Unlike the U.S. where we have a lot of brick and mortar locations, Jamaica has a lot of beautiful landscape and so we have to become really creative.”
Though juggling the details of a wedding is bound to trigger some stress, for Watkins, it’s exhilarating to bring a mere concept to fruition. Success manifests as simply as a smile on a client’s face. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve just had a love of people. It’s always been about the people and making sure their moments are memorialized so they have something to cherish for a lifetime,” she explained. “What I realized, especially through COVID, is that life is so fleeting and we really need to treasure all the moments we get to enjoy.”
Read on to learn about three full-service projects by Dragonfly Experiences that will inspire your own wedding design ideas.
For Janelle and Clint’s wedding, Watkins delivered elegant romance on a budget. To avoid spending a lot on flowers, Watkins let nature take the lead at the ceremony. Under a large tree with sweeping branches, a free-form flower arrangement was constructed with several varieties of florals, including purple, white and orange roses, eucalyptus and lacy-veined anthuriums, among others.
Though the ceremony took place at a small alcove, the beachside reception at Prospect Estate in St. Mary was decked out in hues of ivory and gold under an open tent of twinkling string lights and hanging wicker lanterns. And while a pitched tent doesn’t typically scream “elegance,” this one was constructed in such a way that it felt like a whimsical canopy.
Watkins and her team also cleverly covered the bulky black wires connecting the string lights by wrapping them with greenery to add to the ethereal garden feeling. “We didn’t want to bring a lot of heavy elements in there. Having the vines really made it a little bit more romantic and softened the look of the light,” she said.
Table settings, candles and the couple’s cake followed the gold theme, while the flower centerpieces mimicked the standing ceremony arrangement that was brought inside to act as the bride and groom’s table backdrop. (Another trick for saving money is to place the bride’s bouquet in a vase to become the centerpiece for the couple’s table.)
The couple met on a plane after being seated next to each other on a flight to Jamaica, with Clint traveling for a birthday and Janelle going for work. Watkins helped them include this special memory in their wedding with a photo opportunity for guests, complete with stacked suitcases as well as custom luggage tags that functioned as the seating chart, which attendees were able to take with them as a parting gift.
“They really wanted a very sleek and modern but timeless wedding, so we wanted to go with almost a juxtaposition of the venue,” Watkins explained. The outdoor ceremony featured a standout flower arch cleverly arranged with overflowing white and blush roses, orchids, hydrangeas and pampas grass, but only on one side, offering a stunning focal feature that didn’t take away from the bride and groom or the space.
The reception was held in an open air veranda where Watkins added a semi-sheer canopy roof to hold off any potential weather mishaps while also adding an extra touch of delicate romance. The linear space, although cozy, proved a welcome challenge for Watkins. “In terms of the design elements and how to set things up, we really had to be very deliberate.” Five blush, gold and ivory tables dotted the intimate space, with Susan and Quasy’s bride-and-groom table at the front backed by the ceremony’s flower arch.
The dance floor was strategically placed in a separate area near the venue’s rocky edge for dreamy dancing under the moonlight. The couple’s modern, marble wedding cake was a favorite collaboration between Watkins and a baker she knew would deliver on both taste and aesthetic.
Meredith & Kyle
Also held at Prospect Estate in St. Mary, Meredith and Kyle’s budget-conscious seaside reception offered a timeless ambiance further romanticized by minimal decor, ethereal white floral arrangements and elegant, moody lighting. The two had chosen the sentimental venue to commemorate the happy vacations they had spent there during their 12-year long-distance relationship.
The couple wanted a laid back atmosphere, mainly using the location’s natural flora as decor, with only one specific request from Meredith: candles, everywhere. The bride-and-groom’s table was surrounded by floating tea candles amid twinkling string lights and wicker lanterns that gave the reception a cozy yet magical backyard feeling. “The guest list was very small — only around 25 people — and they really wanted to have kind of a dressed-up dinner party vibe,” said Watkins of the aesthetic. “The approach was less is more.”
The structureless reception allowed for the lighting to be the star element while hints of simple white, green and classic gold were seen in floral arrangements, the cake and table settings.
