Jamaica’s Rum Festival to Unleash the Spirit of the Caribbean

The era of swashbuckling pirates intoxicated by their desire for treasures, adventure and rum has returned. Pirates’ Gold: Rums of the Caribbean is a new festival capturing the period of wild adventurous buccaneers and the beverage that buoyed them in their exploits: rum.

Caribbean pirates were known for their fondness for alcohol. In fact, the song Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum though not a sea shanty, popularly describes the role that rum played in the life of an average Caribbean pirate. The song was made popular by a 1901 Broadway musical and is based on R.L. Stephenson’s pirate novel, Treasure Island.

Rums of the Caribbean is a celebration of this special brew and its tempestuous past. It highlights the history of rum making in the region and the pirates who made the rum famous. It is a promotional fair aimed at providing exposure to different rum brands and rum-based products to the regional and international market. It also provides networking opportunities for distributors and showcases the culture and cuisine of Jamaica and the Caribbean.

The festival will debut in Jamaica, a one-time base for the wanderlust seafarers and where their main lair, Port Royal was once known as the wickedest city on earth. The event runs from April 21 to 22 and takes place on the lawns of the historic Devon House Mansion in Kingston.

Seventeen Caribbean rums from Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, St. Kitts, the Cayman Islands, Guyana and Puerto Rico will be represented at the festival.

A virtual Pirates’ Village will be created at Devon House where participants from all over the Caribbean will “run aground”, setting up various displays of the finest rums and rum-based products that the region has to offer.

The entire village is designed to transport patrons to a time when the region was the stomping ground for the rough and rugged pirates. Organizers of this year’s festival are hoping to make the event an annual affair on the Jamaican and regional calendar.