The Barbados Food & Rum Festival is considered one of the best food festivals in the world. What started in 2010 as a local event aimed to attract tourists has grown to become a high-quality and upscale food festival to suit any taste.
The program of the festival features demonstrations and tastings hosted by acclaimed chefs, wine and rum tastings, mixology seminars, and more. While some attendees focus on sampling delicacies of Barbadian (Bajan) cuisine, others come to the festival to taste local rums which have been produced here for over 350 years.
Festival events are held throughout the island concentrating in the capital city of Bridgetown. Along with tastings, they include the famous Chef Cook Hoff held on the opening night, Rum Extravaganza and other events dedicated to local dishes and beverages, a polo match, the so-called “gourmet safaris” with international chefs, live cooking demonstrations, food and rum pairings, lectures and seminars, beach parties, barmen shows, and more.
The 2017 festival fell in the same month as the country’s 50th anniversary of independence, so the Food & Rum Festival anchored a full month of culinary celebration with the official event running for four days in late November.
