Petapalooza 2010 is an all-day music festival, scheduled to take place, rain or shine, on Saturday June 5th, 2010 at the Dog House/Brick House area of Grand Harbour from 2 pm until closing time. Read more after the video for further details.

In 2007, Petapalooza raised over CI$ 8,000, which was used for the Broward Puppy Airlift Program. Last year, we raised over CI$17,000 helped with ongoing renovations and the purchase of new stainless steel cages for the Quarantine Room and the new Puppy Room.

This year our goal is to raise over CI$ 20,000.00 to help with the CIHS Shelter Expansion Project.

Petapalooza 2010 will also seek to increase public awareness, to promote the CIHS Spay and Neuter Program, showcase pets available for adoption while featuring local entertainment and encouraging participants to have a fun day out with their pets. Attendance is expected to exceed 1500 people throughout the day.

We would be honored to have your company be a part of this exciting event and anyone wishing to donate to this cause please contact Alysha at 345-926-1834 or via e-mail xandria_14@hotmail.com.
Facebook Group: Petapalooza is a great place for updates.
Location:

Pirates Week Tshirt 2009

Support the National Festival, Pirates Week Cayman Islands. Purchase a t-shirt. Call 949.5078 or email pirates@candw.ky

I think they look awesome and will definitely be getting myself one.

Right now as far as I know they are available on advance order but I am sure they will be for sale in the Pirates Week shop soon. (The Pirates Week shop is still around yes ?)

Please support Pirates Week and all the good people that put a lot of hard work and effort into making it happen every year. If you also don’t want Pirates Week to change then support it at the Save Pirates Week Facebook group.

PRESS RELEASE

SUPPORT PIRATES WEEK!

George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands – September 2, 2009:

The National Festival of the Cayman Islands, Pirates Week, taking place on November 12-22 is fast approaching and the office is asking for your support.

The Pirates Week Festival is a not-for-profit event that is funded solely by community minded companies and individuals in the Cayman Islands through sponsorships and fundraisers.

“We thank our faithful sponsors for continuing to support this not-for-profit event; this event is funded solely by community and corporate sponsorships so without them it won’t be possible” says Casandra Hibbert, Director for Pirates Week.

Not many people in the community realize that the Pirates Week Event is not funded by the government. Each year, the Office goes out into the community seeking sponsorships and assistance to cover all the events, majority of which are free to the public.

Support of the Pirates Week Festival can be made in different ways:

• Sponsoring an event
• Purchasing the Pirates Week T-shirts
• Donations to the event via the Pirates Week Office
• Taking out an ad in the Pirates Week Magazine
• Volunteering on committees/ or events

For more information on how you can support the National Festival, please call the Pirates Week Office at 949.5078 or email us at pirates@candw.ky.

Pirates Week Office Team wearing the 2009 PiratePirates Week Office Team wearing the 2009 Pirates Week T-shirts (l-r) Casandra Hibbert – Director, Bernie Bush – Deputy Director, Pat Bazell-Taylor – Chief Administrative Officer.s Week T-shirts (l-r) Casandra Hibbert – Director, Bernie Bush – Deputy Director, Pat Bazell-Taylor – Chief Administrative Officer.

ABOUT PIRATES WEEK FESTIVAL

The Pirates Week Festival is a not-for-profit event that is funded solely by community minded companies and individuals in the Cayman Islands through sponsorships and fundraisers. The event is normally scheduled in November and is a celebration of the Cayman Islands history and culture. It is a fun filled fourteen days with fireworks, street dances, teenage party, song contest, costume competitions, landing pageant, pirate invasion, float parade, road races, kids fun day, golf tournament, and district heritage celebration days. Visit our website at www.piratesweekfestival.com for the most updated information.

Selita Ebanks on Grand Cayman's Jolly Roger

“Whatever you do, remember we drive on the left!” Is Selita Ebanks’ final piece of advice from an article written by Bianca Posterli over at Modelinia. The article entitled Secret Address: Selita Ebanks’ Cayman Islands is a nice overview from one of Caymans most beautiful exports Selita Ebanks. She gives us the low down on everything she loves to enjoy when she comes back for a visit. I have seen her having a few cocktails at Rackams and Calico Jacks after a day out on cruising the Caribbean sea in style with freinds and family on a boat, all of which is a great sign someone knows how to enjoy themselves in Cayman.

Here is how the article begins:

“Between its pristine beaches, eccentric nightlife, and delicious cuisine, the Cayman Islands is really a must-stop vacation spot. Lucky Selita Ebanks was not only raised in the British overseas territory of the Caribbean, but often returns to visit her extended family. If you’re looking for adventure, head down in November during Pirates Week to dress up like Blackbeard or a wench, or simply relax in the crystal clear waters. But whenever you go, here are some spots Selita highly recommends.”

If you want to read her recommendations then go ahead and read it over at Modelinia.com

The 3rd Annual Air Guitar Competition, hosted by Cayrock, will also be taking place with a chance for a lucky winner to be sent to London, England to see:

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The Dave Matthews Band
Neil Young
The Killers
The Kooks

This prize is valued at $4,000 as it includes flights, accommodations, spending money and VIP passes for the weekend.
Those hoping to win the grand prize can get more information on the festival at www.hardrockcalling.co.uk

Charlie Goes Electric & Suckerbox are all playing LIVE that night on the Corona stage.

The Latin American celebration of “Cinco De Mayo (5th of May).” Cinco De Mayo was created to commemorate the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

Become a member of the Hard Rock Cafe, Cayman Islands Group on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4760003179

Video from last years competition 2008:

more videos: Facebook Group

Recently I had the great thrill to attend the Ritz Carltons Cayman Cookout. It was a fantastic couple of days. First of all I had a nice surprise upon picking up the tickets to find out I had entrance to a complimentary Tasting. It ended up being a wine tasting in the Ritz Carlton Big Garden. There was some food samplings and lots of wine. I had a great time sipping and spitting (ok not that much spitting) and came away comfirmed in my recent favourite wine Catena Malbec.

The main event I had signed up for was the Anthony Bourdain from Travel Channels No Reservations. He was hosting a Cooks tour of Cayman. There were many great local dishes on trial there, and whilst I am not mentioning most of them they were all fantastic such as the fish fry and cayman rabbit. However the two that stood out were the two new comers. Caymans new Sauage maker had some delightful treats  which you just had to try one of each (it is sausage after all). I will soo find myself up at the Farmers Market for some Caribo’s Sausage. The next treat was something I had never tried or at least don’t remember trying. This Pepper Jelly I will not forget anytime soon though. Carol Hay has come up with a scotch bonnet pepper ‘Hot Pepper’ Jelly. It is available at most Super Martket in Grand Cayman and I believe at Pure Art too. If you haven’t had any, go get some and try it with yoru Cayman Sausage, or on Crackers and cheese. This Jelly is so great it can even be used with your meals instead of that boring normal hot sauce!

The Turtle Farm & Boatswain Beach, now one in the same, advertise one thing and then give another. Is it any wonder they make huge losses ?

Ever since the idea of a Dolphinarium in Cayman started to spread around there were protests for obvious reasons, non other more poignant than “Why? We don’t need one !” Well on the same day that McKeeva Bush Leader of the opposition points out the Government is loosing money, revenues are down this year and Cayman’s debt will be $700 million by the end of 2008; Boatswain Beach gets it’s very own article announcing the government will be covering $8.6 million in operating losses for Boatswain Beach the new Turtle Farm experience.

Now beyond the politics this does push the point that if an organisation like the Turtle Farm that has been in business for a few decades now still can’t turn a profit, why set up more captive marine animal attractions, especially one with larger more pelagic marine animals. Hell the Dolphins won’t even be breeding for release !

Boatswain Beach apparently at some time recently was loosing 1/2 a million a month ! That’s mental losses in tourism, any other business with those losses would be closed before months end. They still seem to be dependant on cruise ship revenue (90%), which must be a mistake when we know cruise ship number are down and if you look at the cruise industry it is obviously going to continue to drop as they change up their destinations. It is time to start focusing once again on the sustainable tourism of stay over or fly in visitors. However even in that world should Boatswain Beach be allowed to carry on operating with such losses ! The image above shows you what type of experience it has become, the left image of baby hatchings looking very cute in the water against the reality of hundreds of large turtles all crammed in on top of each other with sores and scrape all over them. Is that really a tourist attraction ? On an island with so much nature and wildlife all around us in the water and on land do we really need to create a fake viewing area for these very same animals ? If those questions even make you think, why would anyone in their right mind consider a dolphinarium, it is destined to fail on a massive scale, especially when in the age of eco tourism people find out that the dolphins don’t even come from here !

Jimmy Arias playing hard and hitting hard at the Ritz, Outback Series.

The Residences at the Ritz Carlton hosted Caymans first ever involvement with the Outback Championship Series. I imagine this to be a smaller leg of the whole tour, however it is quite a big event for Grand Cayman. A huge mixture of people showed up for all the days of the event, and the players put on some great shows of not just great Tennis but also showmanship.

The event is a Sand / Clay tennis event, which I personally always enjoy to watch. There was plenty of stadium seats, however it did get a little crowded towards the final match. Jim Courier, United States, defeated Wayne Ferreira, South Africa, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1). It was a great match preceeded by Jimmy Arias, United States, claiming third by defeating Paul Haarhuis, Netherlands, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 10-8 tiebreak.

The VIP tent was fully stocked with some amazing buffet food and local Beer Caybrew and Champagne from Veuve Clicquot along with other assorted wines and soft drinks. Outside in the main area there was plenty of souvenir shops with Championship Series merchandise, Ritz Carlton tennis gear to super sized tennis balls and some food and drink vendors.

The event is well worth checking out even if just for one day, but if you choose to go in the future my advice is take a big hat for shade and lots of sunscreen as the seating provided no shading whatsoever and it was perfect Caribbean weather !

Batabano is by and away the most fun Carnival Cayman has to offer in my opinion. It may not be a week long like some islands have and it may not be quite as big but everyone goes all out and has a great time, and no matter how much of a cynic you are .. you will be there to watch it at least once!
This Year there will be two parades, a Junior and a Adult parade, which indeed all in all are a week apart, so we are getting closer to having a week long street party !
Full dates of events are as follows:
April 26, 2008 – Junior Batabano street Parade and Family Fun Day – Glass House Lawn
May 1st – Masquerade Fete – Pedro Castle
May 2, 2008 – Friday Night Fete – Tree House
May 3, 2008 – Cayman Carnival Batabano Adult Street Parade and Street Dance.

For conveniance I have copied the history of the event over to this post from www.caymancarnival.com

History of Batabano the Cayman Carnival
Cayman Carnival Batabano was launched in 1984 by the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman. Held annually during the first week of May, it is undoubtedly one of the main highlights of Cayman’s entertainment calendar.

“Batabano” was the original name of Cayman Carnival, chosen as a salute to Cayman’s turtling heritage – Batabano refers to the tracks left in the sand by turtles as they drag themselves onto beaches to nest. Finding turtle tracks on the beach was and still is reason to celebrate in Cayman, thus, Cayman Carnival Batabano.

Needless to say, Carnival is a true Caribbean tradition – a cultural kaleidoscope of music, dance and pageantry with roots mirroring the region’s diverse history of African and religious influences. The colourful costumes reflect our vibrant landscapes and traditions, and the music is the very rhythm of life in the islands. From Trinidad and Tobago, to Jamaica and the Virgin Islands, carnival is the Caribbean’s cultural expression of the arts.

Cayman Carnival Batabano has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception, and requires a great deal of coordination each year. Although Rotary remains a major sponsor, Batabano is now organised by an independent committee of local volunteers, chaired by Donna Myrie-Stephen since 2001. Under Mrs. Myrie-Stephen’s leadership, the committee renamed the carnival “Cayman Carnival Batabano”, which also carried efforts to bring the look and feel of Batabano events more in line with traditional Caribbean carnivals.

In response to the growing interest of local schools for student participation in the street parade, the committee introduced “Junior Carnival” in 2002 as part of the overall one-day street parade. However, the continued growth and development of the Juniors prompted the committee in 2005 to launch a stand-alone street parade for Cayman’s youth called “Junior Carnival Batabano”, which takes place the weekend before the adult parade. The objective of developing the Junior Carnival is to create a safe environment for the students to play mas, and to place more emphasis on teaching the students the art of costume-making for generations to come.

Thousands of locals and visitors flock to the streets every year to celebrate Batabano and now also Junior Carnival Batabano. Major corporate sponsors continue to come forward in support of this cultural event, while the Ministry of Education and the Education Department offer their endorsement and sponsorship of the Junior masqueraders.

The energy of Cayman Carnival Batabano is electrifying. Districts and corporate groups join together in costume to compete for prizes as the design and choreography become more elaborate each year. It is a time to celebrate local surroundings, to display creativity, to voice social issues and of course, to party and unite.

Artists Impression of Camana Bay Plaza

Camana Bay has had a soft and small opening. There is now two shops or ‘PLAY’ areas as they have so modernly called them. First off the Cinema which is a franchise of Hollywood Theaters has opened up with 6 screens showing all the most recent box office hits. First off the selection of movies is refreshing to say the least here in Cayman. Secondly once you get into your theater the steep seating allows for you to sit anywhere and not have a head in the way, unlike the Marquee cinema which is flat seating and you always end up with a area of screen you can’t see.

Books & Books has also just set up and has the feel of a real book store with nice high shelving loaded full of books and presented in a very easy to find clean manner. Now I can’t say for sure if the selection is more or less than other stores on island but it is at least competetive with the others. The main thing here is it’s location in Camana Bay is very pleasant and they are said to be offering food and drink there such as US and UK stores have cafe’s in the book stores. I have always enjoyed that part of modern book stores so hopefully Books & Books will have that part operational soon as of right now there is no sign of it!