Caribbean food and arts festival coming to Pierrefonds-Roxboro
A new Caribbean food and arts festival is coming to the West Island next weekend.
The first edition of Island Fête is taking place throughout the day Sept. 2 on the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough hall grounds.
“It’s the largest cultural festival that the West Island has ever seen,” said festival founder Akilah Newton, who also created non-profit Overture with the Arts.
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“Pierrefonds is the most culturally diverse borough in the West Island, and there’s a large Caribbean community. So we really want that community to feel seen and to be represented.”
Caribbean food, Black art, live entertainment and supporting BIPOC businesses will be the focal point of the one-day free outdoor fest.
“We want people in the West Island to know about the different islands that there are in the Caribbean and celebrate Trinidadian culture, Jamaican culture, Haitian culture and so on and so forth, and bring the community together and unite them through the arts and food of course,” said Newton.
The festival will be hosted by Malik Saheed and Miss Trish. Live music is provided by reggae and soca musicians Jab Djab band, and the food is courtesy of Tasty Touch.
“They’ve been doing their thing for decades, so it’s going to be a really great night,” Newton said of Jab Djab.
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Representatives held a press conference Wednesday to outline the festival programming.
“We’ve been working on this very hard, week to week, for months upon months, and looking at this right now, I almost feel teary eyed to see it come to life and to see all of you here showing your support,” said Tasty Touch owner Don Garrett.
“We truly appreciate this to finally see it bear fruit and get to see it live and share our culture with the entire community of the West Island. We look forward to it. We look forward to seeing all of you there.”
