Nevis Mango Festival 2024: The 10th anniversary of the Mango Bonanza

The Nevis Mango Festival 2024 was officially launched on Thursday, July 4, at the Nevis Botanical Gardens with an Inaugural Evening event thus marking its 10th anniversary.

Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis, was the one to declare the launch of the 10th Mango Festival. He expressed that the long line-up of activities for the hosting and organising of the event was very impressive.

He even highlighted the improved points that helped the event reach its pinnacle. The improvements, for the love of mangoes, taken at the Malcolm Guishard Recreational Park include a VIP zone that dubbed the Mango Lounge, hydration stations, samples of mango themed dishes prepared by fifty gifted chefs along with chefs’ competition, multiple entrances and designated exits, and the local artists being featured and hosted at the Mango Concert.

Brantly added that these points helped in capping the number of tickets sold for this event. He said that the festival continued gaining popularity in and outside of Nevis, resulting in becoming an important part of the Island’s tourism promotion and thus uplifting the talents, creativity and the hospitality of the people of Nevis.

The Mango Festival can be described to be a showcase platform for the 44 varieties of Mangoes boasted in the Nevis, and their delicious diversity. The varieties include the Amory Polly mangoes, the Julie Mangoes, The Teeny mangoes, and various such. The festival provides a chance to explore the complete range of Nevisian mangoes and offers a mango tasting bonanza.

Devon Liburd, CEO of the Nevis Tourism Authority (NTA), welcomed the guests to the festival and put forward the importance of this historical event also discussed the future which the event is heading to.

He said that the event having reached the milestone of the 10th anniversary, the NTA noticed increased momentum of fulfilling its objectives. The objectives can be stated as attracting international exposure for the Island, providing a source of revenue to the local entrepreneurs, promoting local agriculture and by boosting regional and inter-island travel, boosting the economy of Nevis.

The celebrity chef for this year Mango Festival was Shorne Benjamin, who hosted a master Chef class with the local chefs and enjoyed trying various samples of Mango-infused dishes as well as drinks to celebrate the evening. The class was followed by entertainment events by the locals.

The Mango festival being inaugurated on July 4, continued the 5th of July, Friday, with the Beach Bar Crawl on Penney’s Beach, and the Mango Mania at the Indian Castle Fruit Orchard. On July 6, Saturday, the guests and the visitors enjoyed an island wide tour for the variety of food.

On the last day of the event, July 7, Sunday, patrons enjoyed the Four Seasons Mango Restaurant Supper Club, and later the grand finale marked the event to conclude, for the Love of Mangoes.