Locals and tourists flocked to Coco Fest 2025 at Pedro St. James on Saturday as the festival of ‘all things coconut’ celebrated its 10th year.
Around 35 vendors set up their stalls on the grass at the historic site, selling food, drink, sweets, clothes, cosmetics and homeware to the background of live music, while children were entertained with face-painters and coconut bowling.
One of the first stalls to greet visitors to the festival belonged to Jennett Powell of Bonafide Farmer. Jennett was hard at work offering samples of her range of sauces and jams, including jerk sauce, pineapple jam and pepper jelly.
“I come here every year, it’s got to be done!” said Jennett. “My products are straight from the farm and I made many of them especially for this event.”
Other coconut-themed products could be found at the Powder Monkey stall, with visitors sampling handmade treats such as coconut pineapple pepper jelly, Bajan coconut sweetbread and ‘fan favourite’ goat cheese and mango marshmallows.
At a neighbouring stall, Robert Buliusz, owner of Cayman Sweet Bites, was selling coconut-flavoured treats, some of which were made especially for Coco Fest.
“It’s just a hobby of mine, but it’s great to be here and spread the word,’ he said.
One popular stall was the Grand Cayman Distillery stall, which was selling Barefoot Beach cocktails made from its toasted coconut rum. Moises Sevilla, chief executive of Grand Cayman Distillery, said that Coco Fest gave him the opportunity to showcase his drinks to the local community.
“It’s open to everyone, both tourists and locals,” he said. “I love these kinds of events which have local vendors, are locally-organised and where the majority of people here are local.”
Coconut rum fans
Enjoying samples of the coconut rum so much that she bought a bottle, was Daniella Man, who was visiting the festival with her son Andrew, 17.
“We came here by accident!” she said. “We’re staying with friends and we wanted to go somewhere where we could see local, traditional products and maybe get a cocktail. And I love coconut rum!”
The Man family, who are from Transylvania, Romania, lived in Cayman for many years, and often return to the island.
“It’s a place which still has community values, which is really great to see,” said Daniella.
‘I think Cayman would really benefit from having more events like this,” said Andrew, 17, “especially events which are great for all the family.”
Profits to go to charity
Any profits from the event will, like in previous years, be donated to charity, although the organiser, Cayman Islands National Attractions Authority, has yet to decide upon a charity for this year.
“We have about 35 vendors selling food products, arts and crafts, coconut oil, so many different things,’ said the authority’s marketing coordinator, Leanna Jarvis-Burton.
The festival was started by a health enthusiast who wanted to spread the word about the benefits of coconuts, so it started from there and has grown ever since, she said.
“It gets bigger and bigger every year and is always all about coconuts,” she said. “It’s for locals and tourists and we want everyone to come out and enjoy our heritage.”
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