The Cayman Islands agriculture shows of yesteryears come nowhere near the cultural experience offered today by way of homegrown products and activities.
“The show was nothing that big, just a few cows, two or three people selling food from little huts made up of coconut leaves and a handful of people finding shelter under the mango trees,” said Neals Godfrey, a lifelong member of the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society.
He remembers there being little in Cayman those days with most surviving off the sea and land and the little harvested going in the pots and on the plate.
The first show he said was held some 40 years ago in George Town with just a few farmers, local cooks and residents were encouraged to attend for free because money was short.
“It was a delightful experience to hear farmers brag at owning the largest root of cassava, the best milk cow, or which local cook had preparing the best turtle stew or heavy cake. It wasn’t too many activities, not even music was played, but everyone looked forward to meet up with old friends,” he said.
In the previous years, Mr. Godfrey recalled using pumps to remove the water from the cricket field on Hulda Avenue during show day and cutting coconut fonts for makeshift huts to offer protection from the sun.
“There were no trees on the property, sometimes a cool breeze would blow but most of the times it was blazing heat,” he said
As the show grew through the years the event moved from venue to venue. The West Bay Town Hall, Cayman Prep School and the Lions Centre all hosted the event before it finally settled in more recent times at the Stacey Watler Agriculture Pavilion in Lower Valley in Grand Cayman.
In recent years, more activities started taking place, including the baby show being revamped; district stalls made more attractive; as well as the addition of games, plait pole, and quadrille dances to help showcase the event.
“It has grown a 100 percent since those earlier years,” Mr. Godfrey said. “The volume of people alone, and the way things are presented today speaks volumes for itself of how much the event has grown, we learned from the past, we have nice stalls for the animals and lots more plants and more produce, we even have a raffle,” he said.
One thing Mr. Godfrey would like to see happen is for the agricultural society to find a way to ease traffic congestion during the show.
“We did try using buses to transport people at one time, but that did not work,” he said. “Despite traffic, everyone is encouraged to come. The show is a big Cayman get-to-together. Go there and you will see people you haven’t seen in months on that day.”
Just how far the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society has taken this event will hit home when hundreds of farmers put their best selections on show Ash Wednesday, 22 February.
It is a public holiday in Cayman, and it is also when more than 10,000 people are expected to flock to the agricultural grounds in Lower Valley for the homegrown experience.
All-island farmers, crafters, cooks, entertainers, and vendors will display “all things Caymanian’ beginning at 6am.
“Any produce that is grown in Cayman will take its place, some for judging and some for consuming, local dishes such as beef port, chicken, turtle, conch, fish as well as many local fruits, plants, juices, sweets, cakes and arts and crafts will be there for sampling,” he said.
The Agricultural Society consists of civic minded people and is led by president Errol Watler.
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