Miramar's Taste of the Caribbean Islands 2024 Celebrated Diaspora's Culture and Grenada's 50th

The City of Miramar in Florida capped off its month-long Caribbean-American Heritage celebrations by featuring the Taste of the Caribbean Islands festival at the City’s Regional Park Amphitheater. A colorful showcase of Caribbean culinary artistry and culture, this marvelous event was hosted by the Miramar’s Vice Mayor, Alexandra P. Davis. A number of Miramar government officials and other notables were in attendance, including: Wayne Messam (Miramar Mayor), Yvette Colbourne (Miramar Vice Mayor), Maxwell Chambers (Miramar City Commissioner), Joy Smith (City of West Park Commissioner), and Eddy Edwards (CEO of Jerk Festival USA).

Taste of the Caribbean Islands 2024 – (Miramar, Florida)

From left to right, *Wayne Messam* (Miramar Mayor), *Maxwell Chambers* (Miramar City Commissioner), *Yvette Colbourne* (Miramar Vice Mayor), *Joy Smith* (City of West Park Commissioner), and *Alexandra P. Davis* (Miramar Vice Mayor) – Taste of the Caribbean Islands 2024 – (Miramar, Florida)

Attendees were afforded the opportunity to tantalize their taste buds all courtesy of the top chefs on-hand, as well as from a wide variety of Caribbean specialty dishes from local restaurants—which lined the Amphitheater’s perimeter with their food stalls and trucks.

What’s more, this year’s event boasted an exciting lineup of internationally acclaimed artists who wowed the massive audience with their exciting stage performances. The artists on the bill included soca artist, Farmer Nappy (Trinidad); songbird, Gem Myers (Jamaica); Visions Band (Jamaica); and merengue duo, Alomako (Dominican Republic). DJ Fergie kept things bouncing along with the hottest tracks in soca, afrobeat, reggae and dancehall music. So too, attendees enjoyed the pulsating sounds of steel drum music and captivating performances by contingent of the Moko Jumbies.

About Grenada

Grenada, aka ‘the Spice Isle’, and its dependencies are situated in the eastern Caribbean, roughly 100 miles north of Venezuela in South America. Caribbean islands close-by Grenada include St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. Of course, turning 50 is a big deal and Grenada’s celebrations its half century of Independence (February 7, 2024) have certainly been extremely exciting not only on the island, but also well beyond its sun-kissed shores. The National Flag Colors of Grenada are Red, Gold and Green.

Cheers to Grenada’s 50th Year of Independence, Taste of the Caribbean Islands 2024 – (Miramar, Florida)

‘Jab Jab’ Culture in Grenada

To Grenada, ‘Jab Jab’ is tantamount to national heirloom if you will. In fact, ‘Jab Jab’ is a unique aspect of Grenada’s rich history an cultural heritage. Moreover, Grenada is regarded as “The land of 100,000 Jab Jab” and has been marketed in that spirit during the island’s annual Carnival season—which draws umpteen thousands of foreign-based Grenadians and tourists to this beautiful picturesque island.

‘Jab Jab’ – Cheers to Grenada’s 50th Year of Independence, Taste of the Caribbean Islands 2024 – (Miramar, Florida)

In regard to its origin, ‘Jab Jab’ originates from historic times harkening back to the era of slavery. As such, ‘Jab Jab’ later emerged as a freedom celebration from the hardships endured by the mass of the African slaves on the sugar plantation during those times.

Typically, ‘Jab Jab’ can be seen most prominently in Grenada for its annual Carnival season, especially for Jouvert—which represents the festival for the ‘Jab Jab’ to parade through the streets of parishes througout the Spice Isle. The dress of ‘Jab Jab’ festival-goers is unmistakable in that the ‘Jab Jab’ is almost always adorned in black oil or molasses for the appearance of black and shiny skin.