(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – One week on from an Independence Bash on St. Georges Cay that got rave reveiws from visitors, the community of Spanish Wells hosted its annual Fishermen’s Fest which got started on Friday July 15th with an afternoon kids fun fishing tournament.
It was the 6th Annual Fishermen’s Fest held in Spanish Wells on St. George’s Cay and this year it was was bigger than ever with popular Bahamian headliners performing including: D Mac, Dyson Knight, Ira Storr & the Spank Band featuring ‘Lady E’, and Fire/Limbo Dancer Leroy ‘Sweet Boy’ Butler. Notable public faces on the island during the weekend event included: Members of Parliament, Theo Neilly, V. Alfred Gray, and Loretta Butler-Turner. The Defence Force also paid a visit to Spanish Wells during the festivities, with Captain Tellis Bethel and his team of officers, warmly welcomed.
Lynton Pinder, an organiser with the Fishermen’s Fest Committee, commented on the growing popularity of the weekend event, saying, “We were definitely happy last night (Friday night) with the turnout. It’s the biggest Friday night we’ve ever had. We also have quite a lot of people here on the park tonight (Saturday night) as well, and it’s about to crank up now with the Spank Band….and we are looking forward to later on in the evening as the band continues… We have seen tremendous growth, even since last year. In comparison to our 5th Annual, we’ve seen numbers increase by the hundreds.”
“We’ve also seen more people from mainland Eleuthera and other parts of the Bahamas who are setting this weekend in their schedule to come and be with us during the Fishermen’s Fest”, Mr. Pinder added.
A growing interest in Spanish Wells as a tourist destination has also helped to fuel the event’s popularity. “I was speaking with a local in the rental cart business about how we are now at the point where we have no accommodations, in terms of room nights and golf cart rentals”, shared Mr. Pinder, and continued, “Everything is booked out. People are booking a year in advance now. So we definitely have room for growth. We are going to have to find a way to increase rentals on golf carts. We currently have a moratorium on those right now, which is unfortunate, but that is something we are working on.”
The lively and well organized programming during the Fest, with its setting inside the intimate public park on the west coast of the island, no doubt adds to its appeal. In addition to continuous evening entertainment, which began at about 8pm each evening, special games and activities were hosted for the young and the young at heart. On Friday afternoon they kicked off with a kids fishing tournament and during the day on Saturday there were ongoing kids games and activity stalls, face painting, balloon art, a magic show, clown and more. A spectacular fireworks show was also part of the excitement on Saturday night, in between headliners.
