Throughout November, tourists and residents will be treated to a range of local cuisine during a series of events around the territory,organisers said during the launch of the BVI Tourist Board’s fourth Food Fete on Friday at Callwood’s Rum Distillery in Cane Garden Bay.

“I’ve always said I’ll want to walk into every restaurant in the BVI and ask for a local drink or ask for a local juice,” said BVI Tourist Board Director Sharon Flax-Brutus. “I want to be able to hear, ‘We have soursop; we have tamarind; we have passion fruit.’ It might be nice if we can do something like that for the month of November.”

Restaurants and bars will have the opportunity to showcase Virgin Islands cuisine through activities including bar crawls, Taste of Tortola, Taste of Virgin Gorda, the Jost Pork Festival and the Anegada Lobster Festival.

“We are a destination whose culinary programme is coming of age, and the BVI Tourist Board is committed to showcasing culinary arts as a part of our culture and as a part of our product offerings,” Ms. Flax-Brutus said.

Since the VI launched the event in 2014, other islands in the region have followed in its footsteps, according to the BVITB director.

With the United States VI, Barbados and St. Barts hosting similar food events in November, the VI must remain competitive, she added.

“We must always remember that we are in the memory-making business, and food, as well as good fun, helps to inculcate these experiences,” she said. “Because of our success with month-long food events, this year is heated up even more.”

The month is not only aimed at highlighting culinary arts in the VI, but also at boosting the start of the tourism season, at-large representative Archie Christian, the junior minister of tourism, said as he delivered a speech on behalf of Premier Dr. Orlando Smith.

Want to go?

Taste of Tortola: Nov. 3, Queen Elizabeth II Park

Jost Pork Festival: Nov. 4-5 

Barefoot Gourmet Soiree: Nov. 10, Peter Island Resort and Spa

Peter Island Caribbean Food and Wine Festival: Nov. 10-11

Taste of Virgin Gorda: Nov. 18, Nail Bay ruins

Cooper Island Rum Festival: Nov. 19, Cooper Island Beach Club

Anegada Lobster Festival: Nov. 25-26

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