to the region, and they love the food and the culture, so all that was necessary was to present ourselves in a way that introduced who we were and made them feel welcome so they could celebrate our vibrant culture close to home. You will now even find our festival listed on the Alabama Tourism website, and that is huge,” she offered. CACAO is extremely grateful for the support of the Mayor and City Council of Bessemer, Alabama, so much so, that the organization voted to name the festival after the City of Bessemer which is also known as the Marvel City. The mayor and his family as well as the Chief of Police, Fire Chief and Members of the City Council regularly attend the festival with their families. The goal is to make the festival an annual destination event for the City of Bessemer. On June 8, in keeping with national observance marking the month of June as Caribbean American Heritage Month, the organisation will host its eleventh Caribbean festival dubbed The Marvel City Caribbean Food and Music festival, at the DeBardeleben Park,in downtown Bessemer. The fun starts at 11 a.m. To date, it has welcomed guests from all over the State of Alabama, as well as Atlanta, Tennessee, and Florida. Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami and the Southeast USA, Oliver Mair, is a regular attendee at the festival, as well as the Consul General of The Bahamas. Last year’s festival attracted over 5,000 people and featured live music, Caribbean, and other foods as well as a costumed parade that is a crowd favourite. The annual event is billed as family friendly with an area for children featuring games and other entertainment. CACAO is a 501c3 – nonprofit entity with an all-volunteer Board made up of Caribbean nationals from the islands including; Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Guyana, Trinidad, St. Kitts, as well as the USA. The current president is Gina Sealy from Barbados. The organisation is also expanding to the capital city of Montgomery as well as the Gulf Shores. In addition to the festival, the organisation also hosts an annual scholarship dinner for students from the Caribbean, or of Caribbean heritage, attending school in Central Alabama. Four students who applied and had gone through a selection process, were awarded scholarships to pursue higher education. Corporate and community partners for this year’s festival include; Milo’s, Perfect Note restaurant, WBRC/Fox 6 News, Birmingham’s New V-94.9 FM, Valley, Alabama State Council on the Arts and Walmart. 8 Aubrey Campbell/Gleaner Writer ALABAMA, USA: WHEREVER CARIBBEAN people call home, they will also make their presence felt and the State of Alabama is no different. That is the expressed opinion of Pauline Ford-Caesar, a Jamaican and the founder and immediate past president (IPP) of the Central Alabama Caribbean American Organisation (CACAO), Fourteen years since it was founded, the organisation has been making its presence felt through programmes and events that seek to highlight the rich and diverse culture and heritage of peoples from the Caribbean. “The fact that there is a great deal of love and appreciation for the (Caribbean) region from the people of Alabama, USA, make the task easy as evidenced by the growth of our annual festival.” “Many Alabamians have travelled Alabama readies for Caribbean festival These costumed revellers ‘demo’ the vibrancy of the Caribbean culture that will again be on display at the ‘Juneteenth’ festival, downtown Bessemer, Alabama, June 8. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Gina Sealy, president of CACAO, Inc. THE MONTHLY GLEANER | APRIL 11 - MAY 11, 2024 | WWW.JAMAICA-GLEANER.COM | NEWS
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