Sunset City Food Festival
In addition to their yearly St. Mark's Day Festival, as an initiative the parish has recently launched the Sunset City Food Fest which is quite similar to the Fish Friday event in the town of Gouyave. This particular event came about as a response to the need for employment opportunities in the rural communities and to mitigate the negative effects resulting from the ravages of hurricane Ivan on the nutmeg industry.
Victoria, with its estimated population of four thousand is the nick named Sunset City The St. Mark's Development Committee (SMDC) has many visions to help with the development of the parish, one of which is the provision of a monthly, Saturday evening, family-oriented offering of a melange of traditional Grenadian cuisine utilizing the natural ingredients and produce of the parish.
The overall objective of the Food Fest is to create job opportunities for residents whilst fostering community pride and identity, as well as providing a welcoming cultural tourism attraction. The Sunset City Food Fest has been in existence for over two years and they present an extraordinary assortment of delicious cuisines to satisfy any taste. These dishes include fish, chicken, pork and other meats; vegetables, calaloo soup, crabs, conches (lambi), Tania Log (a porridge prepared in a traditional manner from the Tania root crop), even different types of ice cream, roti and of course Oil down (the island's national dish) all of which can be found on Diamond Street, which is the location of the festivities. As part of their display they also offer local fruit juices and alcoholic beverages ranging from local rum and beer, to other varieties of wines and spirits. New and unique foods and drinks are available to taste at each Food Fest event.
There are officially eight vendors providing Grenadian delicacies, including fish prepared in a wide variety of ways. Each vendor resides at Victoria St. Mark and is knowledgeable in the preparation and care needed to create such dishes. By their continuous effort and skill the community is rewarded through capacity building and further employment opportunities for the village.
Ever since it's induction in April of 2007 the ongoing success of the Food Fest has shown tremendous increases in both sales and attendance, patrons from other parishes and tourists all come to experience this unique and exciting event. Increased advertising has brought more people to the Food Fest each month and it continues to flourish, showing much promise for growth in years to come and it is the hope of the community that the Sunset City Food Fest will do just that and maintain a status of one of Grenada’s most exciting social events.