Something would have to be dreadfully wrong if, with the season of Christmas fast approaching, the word ‘Pepperpot’ were not to merit a generous mention of media attention. Andrea Bryan-Garner appears determined that this time around it would be no different. When the Stabroek Business met with her earlier this week, she was preoccupied with putting the pieces together for this weekend’s (Saturday and Sunday) Annual Pepperpot Festival which will be staged at 229 Lance Gibbs Street, Queenstown. Over time, Andrea has come to see the event as a seasonal ‘Bell Crier’, a loud ‘shout out’ to Guyanese that Christmas is upon us.
Few things evoke the spirit of Christmas in Guyana more than a ‘whiff’ of Pepperpot. This year, she says, she expects that the event is likely to attract more than fifty (50) Pepperpot makers, all of whom will by hoping that the returns for participation in the event will reap rewards that might include ‘contracts’, not just for seasonal dinner tables, but for restaurants and Christmas parties. Beyond Pepperpot, the event provides opportunities for the ‘marketing’ of other Christmas ‘goodies,’ cakes, drinks and the various other ‘sundries’ that go with the season. Over the weekend, however, it is Pepperpot that will be the Belle of the Ball.