Anthony Minott photos - This boy (right) enjoys roti and curry goat, while his friend finishes his meal.

Food, frolic and drumming marked the inaugural Hussay and Curry Festival at El Rancho, Dunbeholden, in Portmore, recently.

People, mainly from the close-knit community of Dunbeholden, were out in their numbers sampling the food and listening to Indian music blaring in the background.

The tasty curried food on hand include: pumpkin, irish potato, crab, chicken, dahl, roti, saltfish, and chukka.

Apart from the food, the outstanding Hussay, a colourful tower built by Leroy Jagasar, sparkled in the afternoon sun.

Jagasar said that his father inspired him to build the Hussay. "My father passed away in February 1983. I used to help him to build the Hussay, now I'm building it on my own. I'm a great lover of the sport and I also love playing base drum. It's a great challenge to build something like this," a proud Jagasar said.

Hussay is an Indian tradition which is usually celebrated in Clarendon, however, one man, Cliff Coleman, originally from Braeton, phase three, who stays close to his roots, decided to carry it to Portmore. The festival marks the deaths of two brothers, Husain and Hassan, whose descendants became the Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.

"The first staging has gone well; people are anxious to see the Hussay and the drummers, and that's a lot of excitement," Cliff Cameron, organiser of the event, told THE PORTMORE STAR.

Cameron said that the festival is an Indian tradition, which is geared at showcasing the culture of his unique race in music, food and talent pieces.

Later in the evening, a group did a couple of drumming pieces to put the icing on the cake, so to speak.