By: Gavin Schweiger, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
CAMDEN, N.J. – Camden County and the South Jersey Caribbean Cultural and Development Organization (SJCCDO) hosted the 25th South Jersey Caribbean Festival at Camden’s Wiggins Waterfront Park on Saturday, July 12.
Smells wafted from the food trucks and barbecue filled the promenade, mixing with the sounds of the Philadelphia Pan Stars Steel Orchestra, and the sights of people dancing with flags and Carnival feathers.
Music also came from a stage on the lawn, carrying sounds of reggae and salsa with the river breeze, slightly cooling the day’s heat. People gathered with lawn chairs under the shade of the surrounding trees or with their own umbrellas.
“It’s just so beautiful. Like, the park, we brought out chairs. We’re gonna sit down in the park and we’re gonna chill,” said eventgoer Myrtle Holman. “And one main reason I came is because I want to be sitting here so I can feel the breeze, because it’s hot out here.”
Despite the heat, there were people around the promenade visiting vendors and eating food, which was a main draw for some. Though more than that, people came to celebrate Caribbean cultures.
“It’s just some people don’t know about those cultures,” Holman said. “So to come out here, you can learn different things. And it’s just very educational and relaxing.”
For some, like James Moldova from the British Virgin Islands, the festival also reconnected people with their own cultures.
“I’ll be honest, the music makes me feel like I’m at home,” Moldova said.
The event was also multicultural, with performances and vendors representing many Caribbean countries such as Haiti, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica among others.
“Diversity is so, so, so important,” eventgoer Sheril Dorsey said. “It’s all about diversity. People coming together. Okay, getting to know one another. Camden consists of various backgrounds of people. It’s a small New York city in terms of a melting pot.”
Event organizer and executive director of the SJCCDO, Kylla Herbert, also believed the importance of the event was diversity and education.
“It gives people a chance to be exposed to different aspects of Caribbean culture for free,” Herbert said. “People get to know more than just the food, to get to learn the music, the different genres of music.”
Herbert’s father, Nkem Tshombe, founded the SJCCDO in 2001, when the organization held the first Caribbean festival with support from the Walt Whitman Arts Center, according to the SJCCDO website. Herbert took over organizing the festival in 2007, when Tshombe passed away.
The organization also promotes Caribbean culture and education through steel drum workshops for kids, cultural dance workshops and community outreach, according to Herbert.
For the future, Herbert sees the event expanding more.
“Hopefully, we get more sponsorships, because we rely only on sponsorships and grants, to make this happen,” she said. “We’re getting bigger artists, more people attending. Even this year, we’re having a record number of attendants. We have great weather, so a lot of people came out. So, we just look forward to doing more in the community and sharing more of the Caribbean culture.”
Watch the video below for more sights and sounds of the the 25th annual South Jersey Caribbean Festival at Camden’s Wiggins Waterfront Park.
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