Sporting and cultural interest turns to the East End this weekend with the annual staging of its Surf Challenge and plenty of activities around it.
It’s the long
Heroes’ Day weekend and although the jet ski racing remains the signature event, the weekend will include numerous other events that celebrate the Cayman lifestyle, from concerts to that most traditional of foods – fish tea – all celebrated under the theme “Love is the Answer: One HEART, One LOVE, One LIFE”.
The weekend launches with the Total Togetherness Kick Off Party on Friday, 20 January. It’s at Club 7 and features top local DJ Von, who along with Eternal Vibes from Miami will keep the music pumping into the early morning hours. The evening will also see the racers who will battle it out at the Surf Challenge presented to the crowd so the fans can identify with the racers.
On Sunday, 22 January, the action hits the beach when the Gol Beach Football Tournament kicks off. The event, organised in conjunction with East End Football Club, is on Colliers Public Beach next to the Morritt’s Tortuga Club. For those who have not experienced beach football before, it’s the perfect opportunity to see how Cayman’s football stars perform on a different surface. The unevenness of the sand encourages keeping the ball airborne, while a guaranteed soft landing means that players are much more confident when it comes to attempting bicycle kicks and the like, making it a spectacle to behold.
The main event hits the water, and the beach, on Monday, 23 January, Heroes’ Day, as the jet ski heroes take up the surf challenge off Colliers Public Beach in East End. The event is run in cooperation with the Cayman Islands Watersports Association and the course is designed for the action to be easily viewable from the beach, so spectators can enjoy the spectacle while still finding time to indulge in the rest of the day’s action.
Competition will be every bit as hot on the beach as on the water as top local cooks compete for the coveted title in the Flowers Bottled Water Fish Tea Cook-Off. This unique brew of fish soup is a famous and favourite local delicacy, with many tales told of its hidden benefits. As to which ingredients make up a top fish tea, you would be hard pressed to find any cook who would divulge more than the bare minimum – fish, ground provisions and seasoning peppers. The rest is a secret unique to each cook, and as closely guarded as any secret recipe out there.
This year there is an added incentive for the winner of the fish tea cook-off, as the event forms part of Culinary Month, with the winner receiving a spot at the All Things Cayman booth at Taste of Cayman, bringing the authentic taste of the Eastern Districts to the event.
Music is provided by top DJs Selecta Renegade, DJ Von, DJ Lyn, DJ Atom Skillz and Eternal Vibes from Miami.
After the races, the action carries on late into the night as the party continues on the beach.
Tickets
Entrance fee is $10 for adults, $5 for kids 12 and younger, with kids younger than five attending for free. Best of all, the entry ticket also serves as your entry into a raffle with prizes including a flat screen TV, a Blackberry phone, a DVD player and a host of other prizes and giveaways. More entries into the draw can also be purchased at the event.
Sponsors
Of course, no event of this nature can hit the water without the support of sponsors, and the 2012 edition is sponsored by Flowers Bottled Water, Vision Marketing/Signs of Paradise, Department of Tourism, What’s Hot, Vibe, Radio Cayman, Red Bull, TUKKA Restaurant and Morritt’s Tortuga.
For more information on the event, visit surfchallenge.ky
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