Blue Food Festival, Tobago

The Blue Food Festival is an annual event held at Bloody Bay, Tobago, that features by-products made from one type of ground provision, dasheen. Dasheen is a favourite of mine to consume as it regards ground provision. I love it boiled together with cassava, eddoes, sweet potatoes and plantain with salted fish ie saltfish. So, when I saw there was a festival centred around dasheen, and where I can see products made from dasheen, apart from the boiled dasheen I'm used to, I said hell yes!

Yes I.

This festival has been something I have been looking forward to attending for the past three years. Yes, three years. However, I could not have attended since I first got interested because of commitments at school. This year I was finally able to make arrangements to head to Tobago to this much anticipated Blue Food Festival.

As previously aforementioned, the event is held at Bloody Bay, Tobago, which is more or less in the country side, and depending on where you're staying on the island, it may be about an hour or more in driving to get there. We took just over an hour to get there.

On to Bloody Bay!

The drive was a pretty scenic one I must say. Tobago has a lot of vegetation, ie, it ha rell bush! But the views were pretty amazing.

Englishman's Bay

Upon approaching the site, you park about fifteen minutes away, and one of the public transportation buses will shuttle drive you in to and out of the festival.

The banner 

Upon entering the stage is to the immediate right as well as a tent placement for judges, and when you turn to the left you see the many booths that are supposed to be filled with goodies made from the ever important dasheen. The day was pretty overcast, and it probably rained earlier, but the first thing that I noticed was how muddy and wet the ground was.

That was probably the first thing that probably dulled my excitement. I was aware that every year, it rains at the festival, but I said that since it's in it's fifteenth year, it would have been organized in such a way where that in the event that it rains, it wouldn't be an issue for patrons ... but that was not the case. Thankfully, while I was there it did not rain, but about an hour later it certainly poured.

So I walk to a few booths and I really just saw items on sale, basically. Some persons literally refused to sell some of their goodies, because according to them, the judges did not pass by their booths yet. And I couldn't help but think, huh? The judges were going to judge later in the day I believe.

But anyway...

There were all sorts of dasheen-related items.

Dasheen wine

The lady who sold this asked if I wanted to try some, but I passed on the offer at the point in time (it was still morning time ;} ).

Other by-products from the dasheen included, dasheen cake (which was pretty delicious), dasheen sweet bread, boiled dasheens with saltfish, dasheen cupcakes, dasheen bakes, dasheen punch a creme, etc etc.

Dasheen goodies

Dasheen ice-cream



The dasheen ice-cream was pretty decadent. I enjoyed that ice-cream so so much. I think I would go back (in the next ten years or so, because the event itself was disappointing to me), just to get that ice-cream.  My intention was to purchase a dasheen-based lunch, but because the seating area became a permanent spot for some of the patrons already seated, it was impossible to even sit and chillax for a bit there. Another thing that sort of dulled my appetite was the fact that the entire area smelled like manure, and that scent combined with food meant to be sold for consumption equals a more or less negative appetite for me. 

But it was pretty cool, and a bit barbaric to see pigs roasting on an open pit:

Because I could not sit to have lunch, and nothing seemed to be going on the time I was there, I had to leave. I saw no point in staying there just to stand in mud. So we ended up leaving Bloody Bay, and driving to Jemma's Seaview Kitchen and Treehouse Restaurant for a delicious Creole lunch, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a fantastic end to what I can term a Blue Food Fiasco. I have a few recommendations to the organizers of the Blue Food Festival, since I am not the only one who felt the way I did when I left the festival (disappointed and highly annoyed):

1. Since it rains every year, perhaps change the time of year the festival is held, or locate the festival at some sort of indoor facility. The mud and the slight manure scent and the rain that was clearly about to burst was really a factor of discomfort, not only for me, but for others as well.

2. The festival is centred around the root vegetable, dasheen. For me, it would have been nice if there was a tent of some sort, featuring the dasheen, and the different types, and some of the raw products made from dasheen. It would have been nice to at least hear some of the health benefits, and even a little history of dasheen became an essential part of the Caribbean diet. That would have added to the festival (but this is just me).

3. It would have been nice to see some demonstrations (I know I left before 1pm, but still) of the way some of the food products are prepared using the dasheen, such as the ice-cream, or the baked goods that were available, or even the wine. It literally felt like a market to me, as opposed to a 'food festival'. 

4. I know I got there early and left long before the entertainment started, but I had to leave the sister isle at a certain time. The event started at 10am, I think some form of entertainment should have been going on since then .... something: poetry, local dancers, and the like. I know some well known artistes were scheduled to perform, but I left way before they even got there (well perhaps if I had gotten a seat .... -_- ).

Overall, the Blue Food Festival was not too bad, but I thought after fifteen years, and all the excitement and anticipation I had, it would have been great, and I ended up leaving pretty disappointed. 

This is simply my two cents on Blue Food Festival 2013.

Please enjoy this picture, taken at the Treehouse Restaurant (ensure you visit there on every Tobago visit).

:)