Food, farmers, fun . . . Another good year for AgroFest

Another Agrofest is in the bag and 2020 has been counted as another successful year.

With the approximately 300 tents on show and the throngs of Barbadians, regional visitors and international tourists who passed through Queens Park, Constitution Road, St Michael, there is much to look forward to next year.

Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society James Paul said his team will be working on social media marketing going into 2021 for Agrofest he also spoke to complaints from vendors about tent pricing.

Some vendors complained about high costs, which they believed may have affected their ability to properly profit. However, Paul responded by saying that over the last five years the prices of tents had remained unchanged -without an increase.

“This is a depressed economy, and the prices for vendors have not changed within the last five years. It has remained consistently the same. There are vendors who [also] claimed that they have done very well. Agrofest is a marketing opportunity for the vendors to showcase the products,” he explained.

“People came out to support our farming community. This turnout says to farmers that people are supporting them and I hope that we can continue this momentum this year,” he said. He added that he wanted to impress upon Bajans the importance of the agricultural sector.

“We want to do some initiatives in the schools this year and I am very happy that we could get the schools involved.

When Barbados TODAY observed the flow of the crowd through the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, supporters were all out, ensuring they stocked up on snowcones and cold beverages in the heat of the Sunday afternoon.

The plant shop ‘The Cactus Shak’ was a popular stall among visitors. Member of the Barbados Cactus Society, Theresa Francis, said they displayed their plants and spoke of an in-house cacti competition which resulted in participants earning the title to rightfully boast of their care of the prickly plants.

Located opposite their tent was a small go-kart racing set up for children who steered their way around a circuit much to their delight. Birds, fish, iguanas and other species from select animal groups caught the attention of the little ones. Next year, one can only wait to see how AgroFest presents itself in an exciting way nature lovers could attest to. (MR)