For 7th Year, Caribbean Community Celebrated In Goffe Street Park

The lures of jerk chicken, Jamaican music, island crafts, dancing — and, this year, free vaccinations — brought a crowd from throughout the region to DeGale Field in Goffe Street Park Sunday afternoon for the 7th annual New Haven Caribbean Heritage Festival.

Most of all, as one participant put it, it was a day to celebrate New Haven’s Caribbean culture and come together as a community.

Trevor Benjamin and his daughters Yasmina and Leila came from Waterbury to serve the jerk chicken from his Caribbean fusion food truck, Jonz N’ BBQ.

“We take traditional barbeque and infuse it with Caribbean flavor,” he said.

The Benjamins came from Waterbury to the 7th annual New Haven Caribbean Heritage Festival Sunday afternoon. This year’s event was held at the DeGale Field in Goffe Street Park with food, music, dancing, and vendors to close out Caribbean-American Heritage Month.

Karaine ​“Kay” Holness, a founder of the festival, began organizing this year’s event with Shermaine Edmonds in late May. The festival was sponsored by the Shubert, International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Jamaican American Connection, and Inner-City News.

Holness, who is Jamaican, noted that the Caribbean community has ​“a very strong presence” in New Haven: ​“Our children and our spouses who were born here and are not from the islands need to understand the culture. So it’s a great way to have the fusion of our new home and where we’re from.”

“I feel good because we are able to gather, celebrate each other’s culture, and just celebrate being alive and being here,” Holness said.

Edmonds emigrated from Dominica 33 years ago. She has helped Holness put the festival together for the past few years to unite the Caribbean community in New Haven. ​“We know we are here even though we are separated.”

Hamden resident Carl Lambert comes to the festival every year. He is from Jamaica and visits his grandchildren and other members of his family there every couple of years.

Lambert said his favorite part of the festival is the music: ​“I love Jamaican music, and I love American music!”

Shamerika Berges, owner of Waterbury-based Rejai Naturals, sold organic and vegetable-based products and oils from her table. Berges was joined by her daughter, Wanyah.

Wanyah said her favorite product is the ​“Pink Privacy” oil, which is imported from Trinidad. 

African Fashion Collabo owner Victoria Celentano and her friends Anita Moodie and Charmaine Grodger have come to the festival each year since Celentano opened her business in 2018.

Celentano sells African clothing, jewelry, and head wraps. 

“We think it’s important to support our community and with the Black Lives Matter movement, showing solidarity with our people. Letting them know that even though we’re all separated by the pandemic we’re all here for each other” Moodie said.

Dionna Johnson, who lives in Boston, browsed the African Fashion Collabo tent and bought a bonnet. She decided to check out the festival with her friends. ​“It just so happened that this was something going on which was cool,”she said.

In the next tent, Jani and Nicole Kufa and their niece Ashley Aims sold African art from Zimbabwe. They got the idea to sell art from Zimbabwe villages in Connecticut when they visited Jani’s family in Zimbabwe in 2006.

“But I think it really clicked for us when Covid hit. It’s been really hard for them without a market or anywhere to sell their stuff ​‚and that really motivated us,” Nicole said.

So far they’ve been to three festivals. Their most popular item? Carved wooden elephants.

Kate Dwyer brought her 5‑year-old daughter Jill to the festival from Newington. Jill picked out a beaded warthog which she decided to name ​“Rosanna.”

“We wanted to do something a little different and to give my kids a chance to experience different cultures so this was a really great opportunity,” Dwyer said.

Dr. Taneisha Grant worked to organize a Griffin Health mobile vaccination clinic at the festival. They offered a choice among Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

Grant, who is from Portland, Jamaica, encouraged members of the New Haven Caribbean community and other attendees to get vaccinated.

“I think people have a false sense of security that the vaccine is in the past, but I think it’s really important that we not lose momentum in getting vaccinated” she said.

In the first two hours of the event, Grant said, they vaccinated two people.

Ashley Anthony created an informational poster and spoke with visitors about her home country of Guyana.

Anthony, a rising senior at Yale, serves as president of the Yale Caribbean Students’ Organization.

“At Yale, there isn’t a really big Caribbean community, and so we want to connect with the greater Caribbean community in New Haven,” she said.

She said most people she spoke with about Guyana were surprised to learn about its jaguar population and other flora and fauna. ​“It’s great to be able to represent my country and also show other people in New Haven that there are Caribbean people at Yale. I think it will help to build community relationships, and it’s been nice to have other Caribbean people learn about Guyana.”

Rasheda and State Sen. Gary Winfield brought their 3‑year-olds named Imani and Gary (pictured) to the festival. They sat out on the grass listening to music before touring the vendor tents. ​“People getting to experience the culture and get to know people in their community a little better is important. That’s what brings us together,” Winfield said.