Creole Food Festival returns to Brooklyn for its eighth year
Haitian-born founder Fabrice Armand says the October 3 event in DUMBO puts chefs of colour centre stage and celebrates Creole culture beyond Haiti and New Orleans.
NEW YORK, United States. The Creole Food Festival returns for its eighth year on October 3 at Emily Roebling Plaza in DUMBO, Brooklyn.
Founder Fabrice Armand said the idea grew from attending Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs events more than a decade ago, where he noticed very few chefs of colour being recognised, despite knowing talented chefs such as Jouvens Jean, Todd Richards and Kelvin Fernandez.
While serving as vice-president of Caribbean Magazine, he covered the Haiti Food & Spirits Festival. "That experience introduced me to an even larger community of talented Black and Caribbean chefs," he said.
"Creole culture extends far beyond Haiti or New Orleans," Mr Armand said. "There are connections across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, South America, and the Southern United States."
Roots in Haiti
Mr Armand's family is from Camp-Perrin, near Les Cayes in southern Haiti. He spent part of his childhood in Port-au-Prince, where he attended boarding school at Saint-Louis de Gonzague.
"Food is such an important part of Haitian life," he said. "It brings people together for celebrations, family gatherings, holidays, and even during difficult moments."
Planning usually begins in November for the following year. Over the years the festival has been staged in New York, Miami, Atlanta, Washington DC and New Orleans, and this year it partnered with the Harlem Fine Arts Show for an event in the Hamptons.
"We want every city to feel authentic to the community we're entering rather than simply taking the same festival and dropping it into another market," Mr Armand said.
A year-round family
He said he was proud of chefs who went on to greater recognition after taking part, including Cybille St. Aude of Honeysuckle and BJ Dennis.
The team supports participating chefs and businesses throughout the year, recommending them to corporations and cultural organisations and collaborating on dinner series.
"When you support a chef or small business, you're not just supporting one individual; you're supporting their employees, their families, their suppliers, and the neighbourhoods where they operate," he said.
Mr Armand said the festival is about building an ecosystem in which chefs, entrepreneurs and communities can be supported long after the event, which is why the team will launch Creole Food Culture in 2027.
