“Ready. Set. Go!” Deputy Chief Agricultural Officer Arona Fahie-Forbes called to four children at the start of a mango-bobbing contest during the Mango Array and Tropical Fruit Festival on Friday at the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park.
Wearing plastic bags over their clothing, the contestants dipped their faces into a water basin to collect cottage mangoes as quickly as possible.
“You had to use your teeth because if you used your mouth only, it would slip out,” said G’Anton Grant, 9, who won the bobbing challenge, which was followed by a mango-eating competition. “There were so many heads in it, so I had to come out and take a break and then go in again.”
He brought out seven mangoes in total.
The competition was among the highlights of the festival, which also showcased farm produce, pastries, mango-based beauty products, and other items.
Mangoes were in abundance this season, but there wasn’t a big variety for sale at the event even though about a dozen vendors took part, Ms. Fahie-Forbes said.
“Some persons would come and say they didn’t get any mangoes, but it’s not that there aren’t mangoes: The particular variety that they may have wanted wasn’t here,” Ms. Fahie-Forbes said as she watched a few attendees peruse items on display.
Mango tarts
While the children competed, James Lettsome sold tarts, some of which were made from mangoes.
“Use mango that is not too ripe, but first you have to [take out the seeds], then stew it in a nice consistency,” Mr. Lettsome said of his recipe. “Then you use them as filling for the tart.”
The baker didn’t have a hard time finding fruits this season.
“There were a lot of mangoes, so if people can always get their mangoes and store them that would be good,” said the East End resident, who already has bags of the fruit sliced and frozen at home.
Nearby, Pastoria Anthony presided over a display of body and bath items, including shampoo and lotions made with mango.
“I grate the mangoes, then use the juice in making soaps and the lotion,” she said. “In the soap, sometimes I use the pulp.”
Along with being succulent and sweet, the fruit has many cosmetic qualities, she added.
“It helps with exfoliating and moistening the skin,” she said.
Organisers were pleased with the vendors’ sales, according to Ms. Fahie-Forbes.
“I don’t know if they got to the level that they wanted to, but they got sales; that is business,” she said. “Sometimes you get a good day and other days you don’t.”
Enid Maximea, a Purcell Estate farmer who took part, had mixed reactions.
“I hope next year they would plan it around when we have a lot of mango so when people come to get mangoes they can get some,” the farmer said, adding that mangoes are at their peak in June. “There’s not much mangoes to be bought right now. …The attendance was not so great today.”
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