GOURMETS, gourmands, tourists, and Guyanese at large will be given the opportunity to embark on a culinary adventure in a veritable food and beverage paradise when the annual International Food and Drink Fest (iFest) of Guyana 2014 takes place at the Everest Cricket Ground on Easter Saturday, April 19

This year’s festival is dubbed “the Festival with Taste” and has been endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority. The event is part of Guyana’s tourism calendar of events.

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Tourism, said, “ We are in full support of the festival, it will help to showcase not only the culinary aspect but Guyana in its entirety. This event can lead the way to position Guyana as one of the top culinary destinations to visit within the Caribbean. We also wish to congratulate the Karate College on all their achievements and accomplishments over the years in teaching young people and children a very disciplined sport.”

Master Frank Woon-a-Tai, Chairman of the Karate College, related that the objective of the college is to assist children, to teach them to develop their character, self-control, discipline and sincerity. “Without self-control people revert to violence, we have to teach the young men to respect women and not to abuse them and we have to teach the women to protect themselves,” he said.

‘This event can lead the way to position Guyana as one of the top culinary destinations to visit within the Caribbean’

Master Woon-a-Tai updated the media on the progress of the college which is currently under construction at Liliendaal on the East Coast of Demerara. He stated that, “the building will cost some $50M to complete; we have raised $26M with the help of the previous festival, donations and fund raisers. With this we have laid the foundation for the building and we have already paid $8M for the steel frame for the building.”
He observed, however, that the construction is moving too slowly and persons are getting impatient, so the committee has decided to approach a financial institution to acquire the remainder of funds needed to complete the project. However, they have outstanding documents to be processed before this can be approved.
This event is one of the largest culinary events in Guyana and is being held with the support of the diplomatic community and also has on board all the major beverage companies here, including Ansa McAl, Banks DIH, and Demerara Distillers Limited.

The festival this year will see more international chefs getting involved to create an authentic food experience for patrons. There will be more international booths available from Europe to South America, Asia and the Caribbean. There are 13 countries that have confirmed their participation and there is the likelihood of more participating in this year’s event.

There will also be a “happy hour around the Globe” with an experienced ‘mixologist’ from Cuba who will be on hand to prepare the famous cocktails of the participating countries, including the martinis, highballs, lowballs, shooters, and tropical drinks such as the Margarita, Mai Tai, White Russian, Caipirinha, Martini, Daiquiri, Mojito, Tom Collins, Pina Colada, Cuba Libre and Sea Breeze, among others.

BEER FESTIVAL
And not forgetting the beer lovers, there will be a “beer festival” with beers from 17 different countries, with the most popular ones coming from Australia, Germany, Belgium, Mexico England, Netherlands and of course Guyana.
This one-day gastronomic event will be filled with fun, authentic signature dishes, yummy treats, famous cocktails, and other popular beverages from countries around the world. Additional features will include a children’s activity area, live on-stage performances by local cultural groups, dance performances, and a musical showcase that will depict the musical culture of all participating countries.

All proceeds from this event will go towards the building fund of the new headquarters of the Guyana Karate College, which is currently under construction at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

(By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)