Enjoying 20 Years of Heritage
On Monday, April 2nd, all roads in Grand Bahama led east, to Pelican Point, where the 20th Annual Pelican Point Coconut Festival attracted over 3,500 guests to the settlement’s designated festival site.
Featuring a wide variety of coconut themed dishes, live entertainment, and exciting activities for festivalgoers to enjoy, this year's festival proved to be a success as guests from islands within The Bahamas, the United States, Canada, and Europe celebrated the festival's 20th anniversary.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Tourism and Aviation (MOTA), the Hon. Dionisio D'Aguilar, Elaine Smith, Coordinator, Product Development, MOTA, said, "For twenty years, the residents of Pelican Point, notably the families of organizers Cathy Laing, Paulette Thomas and Eleanor Stuart, have preserved the Easter Monday tradition of the Coconut Festival."
From an idea birthed out of the settlement’s homecoming celebration in 1989, committee members aimed to create a festival with an evolving environment where visitors could enjoy a thoroughly dynamic display of Bahamian culture.
Smith noted, "The Ministry of Tourism is pleased to partner once more in the execution of this signature event which brings together the island's best coconut culinary experts, visitors, residents, and Grand Bahamians alike for a day filled with authentic, colourful, and tantalizing Bahamian cultural presentations."
With fun-filled games such as the coconut tart eating contest, jelly eating contest, coconut plaiting, and coconut barking contests, those in attendance grew closer together as they had the opportunity to interact with residents of the community while learning about the many uses of coconuts.
The festival's rich presentation of Bahamian culture and heritage created an ideal atmosphere where the work towards the re-vitalization of the tourism product on Grand Bahama Island could be seen.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for East Grand Bahama, the Honourable K. Peter Turnquest, said, "It's always good to be here in Pelican Point. I'm so impressed with the spirit of community involvement because that is what makes great communities. So I want to congratulate the organizers and thank them for the sacrifices that they made here and leading up to today to make this event a success."
