BY SERENA EDWARDS
Every year during Labor Day, people from all over flood Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn for the West Indian Day parade. On Sept. 6 in preparation for the event, Prospect Park Alliance and Smorgasburg hosted “Islands in the Park: A Caribbean Jam”. The event featured different activities and food vendors to celebrate the Caribbean community.
Smorgasburg is a food festival that takes place in Brooklyn, with two locations; Williamsburg and Prospect Park. Multiple vendors from various cultural backgrounds serve every weekend in the summer until October.
For the event Federation Sound, a popular Caribbean DJ collective, had their member, DJ Danglez, on the turntables playing a mixture of new and old Caribbean hits.
Greg Will, also known as DJ Danglez spoke about what these events mean to him as a fellow Caribbean.
“So I grew up in a house full of DJ’s. My stepfather and his family were DJs before I was born, so I kind of grew up with it,” said DJ Danglez.
This is Danglez second time deejaying the Smorgasburg event. He expressed how his sets go off of the vibes and how he uses music to cater to multiple demographics.
“I think you could plug me in any room and I can play a set for whatever the room looks like,” stated Danglez.
Many individuals dressed casually wearing flags representing their countries for a pop of color.
Lawn chairs and blankets filled the area with different families who relished in the sounds of the Caribbean. New York City (NYC) has a large Caribbean community, concentrated in Brooklyn. An estimated 1 million people gathered at Eastern Parkway for the West Indian parade, from all different backgrounds on the day following Smorgasburg.
Right outside the tri-state area, a group of friends from Connecticut came out to the Smorgasburg event to immerse themselves in Caribbean culture.
Keyla Casildo, who is stationed in Connecticut but originally from the city, attended the event to get a taste of home. She expressed how the cultural scene is different in Connecticut compared to the city.
“We came for the vibes, great food because we are stationed in Connecticut and the festivals do not hit and we are from the city so we miss it real bad,” stated Casildo.
Angela Herrera, another resident from Connecticut talked about enjoying her favorite cuisine and finally being able to enjoy it at this event.
“I love oxtail, I had oxtail and cocoa bread from the vendor E Cocoa Bread. It was really good, it was a little spicy but I told them to go light on the spices.” stated Herrera.
Oxtail, Jerk Chicken and a variety of other Caribbean dishes were served during the event by multiple vendors. Jerk Chicken is a traditional Caribbean cuisine which features chicken doused in spices and peppers. Oxtail, aptly named, is the tail of an ox that is served with another Caribbean staple, rice and peas and gravy.