WHILE exposure of the jerk brand is always high on their menu, organisers of the annual Jamaican Jerk Festival have expansion on their minds going into this month’s show.

For the third straight year, the event — scheduled for July 21 — will be held at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens, New York. It has been held in South Florida since 2000.

Eddy Edwards, chairman of promoters Jamaican Jerk Festival USA, Inc, spoke to the Jamaica Observer about this year’s show.

“We are looking to take the festival to other major US cities for 2014. As a result of the popularity of our festival, there has been an increase in the presentation of jerk festivals throughout Canada and North America, expanding the presence and popularity of Jamaican Jerk cuisine and Caribbean foods in general,” Edwards said.

Kingston-born Edwards and a group of associates, including Sydney Roberts, started the Jamaican Jerk Festival in Pembroke Pines, Florida, 13 years ago. He says the inaugural show attracted 4,000 patrons, with last year’s renewal in Sunrise, Broward County, pulling 17,000.

In 2001, Edwards’ organisation teamed with VP Records to stage the festival in New York City, home to the largest Jamaican and West Indian population in the United States.

According to Edwards, the move to the Big Apple has paid off. The first show drew a crowd of 4,500; there were 10,000 patrons at last year’s event.

In addition to a diverse jerk menu, this year will see demonstrations by Grace Foods chef Mazie Miller, and a ‘Best Jerk’ contest judged by American actor Leon.

‘Jerked’ food (mainly chicken, pork) has been a Jamaican staple for decades, especially in the eastern parishes of St Thomas and Portland.

Thanks to a growing Jamaican immigrant population in major American cities, jerk became an underground favourite during the 1970s and 1980s.

The taste went mainstream in the 1990s with many hip hop and Hollywood celebrities giving jerked products the thumbs-up.

— Howard Campbell