With its official launch last Saturday at the Island Villa Plaza in Ocho Rios, St Ann, all systems are now in place for the return of the Ocho Rios Seafood Festival on Independence Day, Saturday, August 6.

The festival takes place at the White River Reggae Park and returns after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Director of the Ocho Rios Seafood Festival, Garwin Davis, has promised a return to the delectable and irresistible seafood dishes that have endeared the event to its patrons over its 15-year history.

“We are, first and foremost, a seafood festival, so we’re going to have a wide array of seafood dishes. Your lobster, your conch, your fish, your squid, sea cat, shrimp, you name it,” Davis stated.

“The top chefs in the country, we’ve asked them to come out with a wide array of seafood dishes and you can rest assured they’re going to have the finest in seafood come August 6, at the White River Reggae Park,” he added. “We’re happy and we’re ready, all systems go to put on a first-class product.”

Executive director of Jamaica Vacations, Joy Roberts, who represented the Ministry of Tourism at the launch, said the ministry backed the festival because it is a family-oriented event and will enhance communities around the Ocho Rios area.

“The Ministry of Tourism and its agencies have endorsed this festival. We think that it’s really a good gesture to have something like this on Independence Day,” Roberts said at the launch.

“What we like about it, more specifically, is that it’s open to kids [and] families and it will enhance the communities in and around the Ocho Rios area,” she added.

The entertainment package includes rides for the children, with stage performances from Marksman, Wickerman, La Lee, Richie Stephens, Admiral Bailey, D’Angel, Black Queen, Kharuso, and Jamaica’s Michael Jackson. MCs will be Tamba and Gussie.