Mango lovers packed the George Town waterfront and the gallery of Cayman National Museum on 5 July, as Mango Fest 2025 transformed the area into a celebration of all things mango.
The free annual festival brought families together for an afternoon of mango-themed competitions, live cooking demos, local crafts, music, food and fun.
This year’s Mango Fest saw its biggest turnout in the event’s eight-year history, according to Brian Watler Jr., the museum’s marketing, events and design coordinator.
“It’s exciting that we have so many people supporting the event this year,” Watler told the Compass.
Hosted by the National Museum, the event featured the popular mango dessert competition, a mango peeling and eating contest, catboat rides in the harbour, and booths highlighting the versatility of mangoes in Caymanian culture and cuisine.
The Department of Agriculture’s booth was a hub of activity, offering growing and grafting tips, seed storage advice and insights into the island’s impressive mango diversity.
“Mango was culturally significant for Caymanians long before it became a commercial product,” said a department representative. “Cayman has one of the largest diversities of mango varieties in the region, with over 50 varieties in our germplasm collection.”
Unique Events by Monique, owned by Monique Traille, featured mango-infused natural juices, served in signature juice bags with glowing LED ice cubes. Flavours ranged from Mango Bliss made with mango jelly to MangoPine Paradise and Citrus Mango Splash.
Other local vendors showcased their mango creativity: Cayman’s Windy Vale Estate offered Papaya Mango Jam; Cayman Boba served Mango Boba Milk Tea; GG’s Kitchen featured mango juice, mango n’ sauce and mango cassava cake; Fusion Mixology presented a tropical cocktail called Doc’s Dilemma with gin, triple sec, lime juice and mango; and Murph’s Kitchen impressed with escovitch fish tacos topped with mango de gallo.
Cayman Cabana returned to the annual event with innovative creations like breadfruit fried fish tacos and mango salsa; coconut and mango ceviche with breadkind chips; and fresh mango salsa with lime, island peppers and mint.
Mayjorie Bague, a passionate baker originally from the Philippines, captivated festival-goers with a dazzling array of mango-inspired indulgences, including no-bake mango cheesecake, mango sticky rice, mango fritters with puréed mango sauce, spicy mango spring rolls, mango dressing and refreshing cold treats, like Mango Tapioca Delight and Mango Tango.
“I decided to join the Mango Fest to share my love for baking and creating desserts with both the local community and people of other nationalities here in Cayman,” Bague told the Compass.
Adding to the excitement, the National Museum partnered with chefs from Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman and Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa for a live mango-themed cooking demonstration in the museum courtyard. Hotel Indigo Pastry Chef Alisa Ali wowed the crowd with a mango tart highlighting the sweet, fibreless Julie mango.
Mango dessert competition
The mango dessert competition set the stage for a lively showdown of sweet creativity.
Danny Boy Cal clinched first place with his mango fritters served alongside a smooth mango purée, while the mother-son duo of Summer Ross and Oliver Abrahamson took second with a bacon mango coconut tart. Mayura de Souza secured third place with her tropical sunset pie.
Other impressive entries featured mango cassava cake, mango rice crispy brûlée, mango sticky rice and mango key lime pie.
“As a humble chef with years of experience, I don’t cook for trophies – I cook from the heart,” said Danny Boy Cal, who is also head chef at Over the Edge Café. “My mango fritters are inspired by my love for local Cayman flavours, made with simple ingredients like mangoes, sweet potato and herbs. It’s my own original recipe, created to celebrate the food I grew up loving and which Cayman loves, too. That’s what winning feels like – connecting with people through food.”
Judges of the competition included Kimpton Seafire Pastry Sous Chef Abhimanyu Ghuliani, Hotel Indigo Pastry Chef Alisa Ali and Hotel Indigo Pastry Team member Ranjith Thirugnanam.
“It was a fantastic collaboration with the Cayman National Museum,” Ali told the Compass. “We extend our heartfelt thanks to Brian Watler Jr. for connecting the Hotel Indigo and Kimpton Seafire teams to participate on the fruitful occasion of Mango Fest.
“The turnout for the mango dessert competition and the mango tart demonstration was phenomenal. It brought great joy to interact and share our passion for pastry with the community.”
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