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| 6TH ANNUAL TURKS & CAICOS CONCH FESTIVAL A KNOCKOUT: DRAWS RECORD CROWDS, CROWNS NEW CHAMPIONS |
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| November 30, 2009 |
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands – November 30, 2009 – The Sixth Annual Turks and Caicos Conch Festival attracted record crowds of conch lovers and fun seekers to its scenic Blue Hills venue Saturday November 28. The event featured a variety of music, live entertainment, a celebrity appearance by world heavyweight boxing champ Michael Moorer, conch knocking and blowing contests and the showcase event – the restaurant conch-e-tition, which saw 25 restaurants compete and some new champions crowned in the competition to come up with the tastiest and most creative conch dishes.
The Saturday afternoon festivities were part of a weekend filled with events, including a special Conch Festival pre-party at The Somerset Friday evening that featured a special Jazz on the Lawn concert. Sunday morning, nearly 100 runners took the streets of Provo in the first annual Wrigthfully Fit Charity Run, with proceeds going to the Provo Children’s Home.
“It was a great Conch Festival and a great weekend. The weather cooperated, people showed up in record numbers, and we had tremendous support from all the restaurants, hotels and local businesses. It’s a true community event that we should all be proud of,” said Conch Festival president Mike Sottak. “The mix of people and the energy were both at an all time high, and it’s great to see the whole weekend really becoming a signature event for the Turks and Caicos for both tourists and residents.”
Entertainment highlights included the Haitian Brass Marching Band kicking of the festivities, followed by The Five Cays Under The Tree Ripsaw Band. An appearance by 3-time world heavyweight boxing champ Michael Moorer thrilled the crowds, and things reached a fever pitch during the conch knocking contest that pitted the island’s best conch fishermen in a head to head battle. Tanker’s Junk-a-Noo then thrilled the on-lookers as they danced merrily in the streets of Blue Hills as the sun set.
And the winners are…
As always, conch culinary creations were at the center of the Festival’s main tent. Winning the overall Best in Festival prize, as determined by popular vote, was Bay Bistro Restaurant, with the delectable conch crepes. They impressed the majority of the voters who cast ballots at the festive event, and Clive Whent and his team will hold on to the coveted trophy for another year.
In the category competitions, the following were deemed tops in the TCI by a team of guest judges (see list of judges below):
Best Conch Salad
1st Place - Joyride (Eleuthrera. Bahamas)
2nd Place - tie - Froggie’s & O’Soleil (The Somerset)
3rd Place - Bay Bistro (Sibonne)
Best Conch Chowder
1st Place - Salt Mills Diner
2nd Place - Hole in the Wall
3rd Place - Opus
Best Specialty Conch
1st Place - Seaside (Ocean Club) Conch Burgers
2nd Place - Caicos Dishes Butter/Pepper conch
3rd Place - tie - Bay Bistro Conch Wontons & Simba Conch Hash
In the always popular Bacardi Mojito making contest, three mixologists rose to the top:
1st Place - Kamario Smith (Ocean Club)
2nd Place - Norywn Guthrie (The Somerset)
3rd Place - Mario Kidd (Grace Bay Club)
Head of TCI Culture David Bowen officiated the conch blowing and conch knocking contests with the result as follows:
Conch Blowing Contest
Longest Blow: Dan Petrovitch
Best Melody: Phil Robinson Jr.
Conch Knocking Contest
1st Place: Latran Handfield
2nd Place: Handee “Gubby” Joseph
The Judges
Jim Baker
President, Caicos Pride Seafood, South Caicos
Wesley Clerveaux
Director, Dept of Environment & Coastal Resources (DECR), Providenciales
Clay Conley
Head Chef, Azul (Mandarin Oriental Hotel), Miami, Fla.
James Dean
Legendary boat builder and fisherman. Blue Hills, TCI
Jason Francis
Fisherman. Restauranteur. Providenciales
Dean James Max
Owner/chef, 3030 Ocean Restaurant, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Michael Moorer
Three-time world heavyweight boxing champion. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Art Pickering
Owner, After Five Concierge Services, Providenciales
Previous Grand Champions
2004 – Nikki of South Caicos
2005 – Hole in the Wall
2006 – Aqua
2007 – Aqua
2008 – Aqua
2009 – Bay Bistro
The 2009 Restaurant Competitors
- Grace Bay Resorts
- Joyride
- Salt Mills
- Anchorage
- Las Brisas
- Graceway Gourmet
- Kissing Fish
- Seaside (Ocean Club)
- Bagatelle
- Caicos Dishes
- Harbour Kitchen
- Orchid
- Seven Stars
- Bay Bistro
- Danny Buoy’s
- Hemingay’s
- Opus
- Simba
- Beaches
- Froggie’s
- Hole in the Wall
- O’Soleil
- C Hotel School
- Parallel 23
Recap of Events
Time Main Stage Beach/Kids Area
12:00 Main Tasting Tent Opens
12:30 Tempest TCI Marching Brass Band
Parade of Queens
1:30 The Five Cays Under the Tree Rip Saw Band
2:45 Conch Blowing Contest
3:00 Bacardi Mojito Contest
3:45 Conch Knocking Contest
4:00 Bambarra Rum Junk A Noo Rush Santa Claus
4:30 Lee Forbes & The Force
5:30 Tasting closes
6:00 Announce Festival Winners
Pot of Gold Draw
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