Taste of Cayman Food & Drink Festival announces partnership with Cayman Islands artist
Taste of Cayman Food and Drink Festival, one of Cayman’s longest running events and the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA’s) largest annual fundraiser has announced its partnership with local artist, Michelle Bryan.
Festival organisers enlisted the help of Mrs Bryan for the development of a series of illustrations depicting a range of Caymanian culinary characters, including a fisherman and a heavy cake baker, as well as designs of local food and drink favourites, including fruit, conch and rum punch. There’s also other Caymanian-inspired illustrations in the series, including the Cayman parrot, palm trees, steel pans and stingrays.
Designed with Taste of Cayman’s colours and style in mind, the illustrations will be used throughout all of the festival’s branding and promotion, including on print adverts, banners, flyers and across social media.
With her fun, rustic drawing style, her Caymanian heritage and love for the festival, Mrs Bryan was a natural choice for the commission.
“My illustrations were largely inspired by Cayman’s culture and history. The women depicted are inspired by the strong Caymanian women of bygone eras, including my own late grandmother, Ondina Wood and national hero, the Hon. Mrs Sybil McLaughlin, who held local society together while the men went off to sea,” said Mrs Bryan.
“The men are dressed in rolled-up shirt sleeves and pant legs and large straw hats as they would have in order to go fishing for crab, conch, lobsters and fish to feed their families,”
“I wanted my illustrations to portray Caymankind and the fun of the islands where I grew up. Each illustration went through three stages; sketch, paint and black line and on average, each took around four hours to complete.”
“I have loved art since I was a little girl at Bodden Town Primary School, even dressing up as an artist for a career day. I have always loved creating and I knew working for Taste of Cayman would be fun, so I was very keen!” said Mrs Bryan.
“We’re delighted to have such a talented local artist on board for 2019’s event,” said Tiffany Dixon-Ebanks, Executive Director of CITA, “the characters are so unique and embody Cayman’s culinary scene from decades ago, with traditional dress and heavy cake baking, to today’s tourist who can be seen BBQ’ing on the beach.”
“We’re proud of Cayman’s culinary culture and would like to thank Michelle for capturing what Taste of Cayman is truly about, while bringing to life our visions so beautifully,” said Ms Dixon-Ebanks.
Taste of Cayman 2019 will be held on Saturday January 26th, bringing together Cayman’s wide range of culinary offerings, as well as live entertainment, immersive experiences and live cooking demonstrations.
Sponsors this year include AI Rentals, Camana Bay, Hurley’s Media, Tower, Flava and CUC, among others.
You can find more of Mrs Bryan’s illustrations on Michellustrations’ Facebook and Instagram pages.
Tickets can be purchased here: www.tasteofcayman.org/tickets
Additional information (prices in CI$):
Early Bird: $35.00
General admission: $40.00
Price on gate: $50.00
Kids (ages 5-13): $20.00
Early Bird VIP*: $135.00
VIP*: $150.00
*VIP tickets include entry to the air-conditioned VIP Hospitality Lounge, priority parking, 25 food and drink tickets, 1 experience voucher, welcome drinks and canapes, express entry and a private cash bar.
Vendor, sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are still available for the event. Visit our website here (tasteofcayman.org) for further details, or get in touch on +1(345) 623 6700 / [email protected]
Taste of Cayman Food & Drink Festival 2019:
Taste of Cayman began in the late 80’s, when a small number of restaurants from the Cayman Islands Restaurant Association met in a field to compete in a Chili Cook Off. Celebrating its 31st anniversary in 2019, the event has now grown into what it is today, with thousands of festival goers and over 35 restaurants, bars and vendors participating in the island’s largest foodie gathering.
