WHILE seafood in general, and the seafearing way of life in particular, will be at the heart of the attractions at this year’s staging of the Port Royal Seafood Festival on Sunday, organisers of the event have also made plans to cater to the desires of those who will attend the event but require other popular and traditional meals.

Bridgette Limtom, a member of the planning committee for the festival, who holds special responsibility for community motivation, recently outlined the broad-based approach being taken by the planning committee, all in the interest of the many patrons who are expected to stream into the historic town.

“We will be having fish done in a wide variety of ways, including jerked, roasted, steamed and fried; conch done differently; crab–spicy and with the garlic flavour; pepper shrimp too and the whole range of Chinese dishes that include seafood such as sui mein and chop seuy.

“In addition, we will be catering to persons who love seafood, but prefer other dishes like some curried goat, a little jerked pork, pastry, soups, roast breadfruit and rundown, even things like popcorn and hot dogs, everything in food that Jamaicans generally go for,” Limtom outlined.

She said patrons will be guaranteed freshly-prepared meals on the day of the food festival– with the vendors– mostly all from the community, geared for all-day cooking and the traditionally well-loved marine fish and other seafood from Jamaica’s coastal waters being the staple offering on the day’s wide and varied menu. In order to meet the expected demand, seafood is to be bought in from nearby fishing villages such as Port Henderson, Hellshire and Hunts Bay, thereby spreading the economic benefits of the festival.