A woman shows off her 'blue drawers' during the Corn Festival in Spanish Town, St Catherine, last Saturday. ian allen

spanish town

Residents of Fairview Park and surrounding areas in St Catherine had a 'field day' at the seventh annual Fairview Corn Festival.

The Star visited the community around 2 p.m. on Saturday and found a host of corn products on display. Corn porridge, corn pudding, corn muffins, corn - bread, corn punch and 'new-kid on-the-block', corn drops, were hits with the patrons.

It was indeed a delicacy for those who turned up at the Open Bible Church in the community, as they made no bones about how the felt about the food, especially the corn drops.

A notably popular product was the roasted corn, which was served with dried coconut, much to the delight of those who didn't waste any time showing their 'corny' side.

Flexible nature

According to Lovelda Robinson, one of the organisers, the aim of the festival is to educate people about the flexible nature of corn. "We in Fairview are showing that corn can be used in far more ways than just boiling and roasting and we are glad for the turnout today. I think more communities should try to do their own festival," she said.

In addition to the groups displaying their own kind of corn, other organisations, such as Sagicore Insurance, The Lions Club of Spanish Town, National Housing Trust and Registrar General's Department were present.

Several persons praised the group for organising the event, which was sponsored by the Open Bible Church. "I think it is good.it is bigger this year and I hope it continues to grow," said Marlene Wilson-Christie.

The festival had many events including a bulla eating contest and a spoon race.