Eleuthera Island was once a major exporter of pineapples. Although tourism has now taken over as their major industry, they still celebrate this heritage in the form of an annual Pineapple Festival in Gregory Town in the first week of June.
We were not far away, and it was the weekend, so we decided to go have a look see.
The harbour at Gregory Town is very small, shallow and hemmed in by steep cliffs so we anchored up 1/2 a mile north (10 minute walk) in Annie’s Bight.
And guess what, no beach AGAIN.
We landed the kayaks ashore and walked through the towns playing field into the centre of the festival. So what is a Pineapple Festival?
Well it is an excuse to eat food.
Listen to music
Run into old friends.
And participate in a pineapple eating contest.
They do this contest with a bit of a twist. NO HANDS allowed. The boys were clad in plastic bags and told, although shoulders were ok, no arms or hands were allowed.
And they were off.
It is obviously a lot harder then it looks. Got a silly video for you.
Not to be beaten, Jake was determined to finish his pineapple, even if he had lost first prize.
Now that is determination! And the winner?
The pineapple eating contest with followed with a parade. Young Bahamian ladies picked a country, researched it and made costumes and decorated their vehicles to match. Members of the crowd were picked at random to score each ‘float’.
It was all lots of fun that ran well into the night.
Of course the ‘sad’ humans lacked the stamina of the locals who could be heard dancing into the wee hours of the morning.
We had sailing to do the next day.
