Crooked Tree Cashew Fest 2019
The popular cashew festival took place over the weekend attracting its own share of visitors to the village; from tourists to mothers celebrating their special day. All things cashew were available, from wines to jams to preserves and cakes. So while the festival is a celebration of the delicious cashew, the event promotes Crooked Tree Village which falls within a protected sanctuary. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
The 2019 Cashew Festival held over the weekend saw many Belizeans as well as tourists converge in Crooked Tree to take advantage of the great food and tasty cashew treats. There were lots to take in from the mechanical rides and great wines. Cashew cakes and preserves were also available for sale. The festival is a staple on the calendar of events as an economic booster for the village that sits in a protected area.
Mike Hernandez
Mike Hernandez, PR Officer, B.T.B.
“The sanctuary is one of the most well-recognized and unique sanctuaries throughout the world. And so it is important for us to create that level of awareness—not only that it exists, but also the importance of protecting it and of course as a tourism product because you know there is a wide range of bird species that actually live here. How does B.T.B. get involved with the Crooked Tree Cashew Festival? It’s because B.T.B. is one of the main sponsors because this is actually a cashew festival and agricultural show.”
There was something for everyone. Most entrepreneurs took the opportunity to showcase their skills and Miss Anna was no exception. While she and her family live in Burrell Boom, her husband is originally from Crooked Tree. A nurse by profession, Miss Anna is known for her delicious wines and preserves, which she does during her spare time and on weekends. And there was no shortage of products available for purchase.
Anna Quiros
Anna Quiros, Businesswoman
“For today, we have coconut wine and Pocono boy wine. I haven’t done that for quite a while so we brought out some for people to taste and so far, people are game to try and they like it. Well, for one reason, this is my husband’s hometown so every year I look forward to coming out here. And we get different bargains: I love the cashew bread and the cashew seeds and it is a little profit for us cause we make our wines and people like it. I have different preserves this year. I have a mali apple chutney that people can put on sandwich, stew chicken, bake chicken. We have the cashew jam. I’ll give you a joke about this. One year I made this and the next year a lady came back and said, “Miss you got any cashew butter?” I said what? She said the cashew butter man yo make last year. I said, “Oh, that’s the cashew jam.” Yes, ih say ih taste like butter and she wanted me to continue do it. So we have the stew cashew; we have the cashew syrup that you can put on ice cream, pancakes, anything like that. We have stew supa; we have stew pumpkin and this is the mali apple jam. This is always very, very nice.”
Miss Anna is in the process of opening a wine house in Burrell Boom.
Meanwhile, Jungle Java Coffee was also on sale. Originally from Crooked Tree, Lyndon Tillett says that it’s a hundred percent Belizean made coffee.
Lyndon Tillett
Lyndon Tillett, Jungle Java Coffee
“It’s a coffee that is made in Belize from Toledo district. We bought the dark roasted coffee bean ourselves and we grind it down, put it in the bag and label it and everything. Jungle Java is a Belizean coffee, but is also part of a sustainable tourism programme. What we do, fifty percent of the proceeds from this coffee and the sour sop tea goes towards educating youths in our country and in our village.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
