Source: Loop
The Tobago House of Assembly’s (THA) Tobago Blue Food Festival was started in 1998 as part of a rollout plan at the Division of Tourism, according to former THA Secretary of Tourism, George Stanley Baird.
“We felt that we needed to do more for the tourism sector and to integrate it with the agricultural sector. At the time, hoteliers and restaurants were not utilizing the local staples, and I felt we could do more to have greater involvement and utilization of breadfruit, sweet potatoes, cassava, yam and dasheen,” said Baird.
This alongside several other interesting pieces of information can be viewed in ‘Blue Food Stories’, a documentary-type feature released by the Tobago Festivals Commission Limited as part of the hybrid offering for the Festival this year.
Originally aired on October 24, ‘Blue Food Stories’ takes viewers on a culturally rich journey of the roots of the Festival, including the origination of the event’s curious name.
The name Blue Food was linked to the blue colouration of the dasheen so the Division decided to incorporate this into the theme for the new Festival, said former manager at the Division of Tourism Binley Benjamin.
Over the years the Tobago Blue Food Festival has grown to become a very popular and notable event on the island’s calendar. Moreover, it has been rated as one of the best food festivals in the world by CNN. Blue Food Stories also features CEO of the Tobago Festivals Commission Limited John Arnold, and some of the event’s original committee members.
To learn more about the Tobago Blue Food Festival, you can watch ‘Blue Food Stories’ on YouTube.
Further information on the activities for Tobago’s Festivals can be found on the Commission’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube pages via the handle @tobagofestivals.
