Exuma Is Getting Its First-Ever Culinary Festival This May

Exuma has long been known for its water first. This spring, it’s putting food on the calendar.

The Bahamas’ Grand Isle Resort in Emerald Bay is set to host the inaugural Taste of Exuma, a four-day culinary festival running May 14–17, bringing together Michelin-star talent, Bahamian chefs, rum makers, and local producers for the island’s first event dedicated entirely to food and drink.

The festival will unfold at Grand Isle and its adjacent beach club, 23 North, marking a new chapter for Exuma’s tourism offering beyond its beaches and boating scene.

A New Culinary Event for the Family Islands

Taste of Exuma is being positioned as a destination-level food festival with a distinctly Bahamian focus. The program includes nightly dining experiences, interactive cooking demonstrations, rum tastings, mixology sessions, and an Exuma Marketplace featuring local vendors, artisans, and food producers.

The headlining chef is Alyn Williams, a Michelin-star chef who trained under Gordon Ramsay and has spent more than a decade returning privately to Exuma as his personal escape. For this event, he steps into a public role, helping anchor the island’s first culinary festival.

Williams will be joined by Chef Nigelle Thompson, head chef at Grand Isle and a native of Exuma, along with Chef Antonio Williams, executive sous chef at the British Colonial Hotel in Nassau. Together, the chefs will create Bahamian-inspired menus built around local seafood, produce, and traditional flavors.

Rum, Mixology, and John Watling’s Distillery

One of the festival’s central elements will be John Watling’s Distillery, the producers of The Rum of The Bahamas and the official spirits partner for Taste of Exuma.

The distillery is bringing its popular Nassau mixology experience directly to Exuma, with rum tastings and hands-on cocktail sessions led personally by co-founder Pepin Argamasilla. Events will take place at 23 North, pairing guided rum experiences with beachfront settings on Emerald Bay.

The programming is designed to be interactive rather than staged, with a focus on Bahamian rum culture and classic cocktail techniques.

A Festival Built With the Island

Organizers say Taste of Exuma is designed to extend beyond the resort. The event will partner with local farmers and fishermen, sourcing ingredients directly from the island and surrounding waters, while the Exuma Marketplace will give local vendors an opportunity to sell art, crafts, and goods to attendees.

Grand Isle’s general manager, Shona Perry, says the goal is to create an event that appeals to both visitors and the wider Exuma community, including boaters and yacht crews moving through the area in May.

The long-term plan is to establish Taste of Exuma as a recurring event on the island’s tourism calendar.

Why Exuma, Why Now

For Chef Alyn Williams, the festival is a way to give back to a place that has become personal. For Grand Isle and its partners, the timing reflects how travelers are increasingly choosing destinations based on food as much as scenery.

By launching a culinary festival in the shoulder season, Exuma adds a new reason to visit beyond winter peak months, while highlighting the depth of Bahamian culinary talent often overlooked in favor of larger Caribbean food destinations.

Where It’s Happening

Taste of Exuma will be hosted by Grand Isle Resort & Residences, a villa-style resort set along Emerald Bay, with additional events taking place at 23 North, the resort’s beachfront club.

The setting keeps the festival grounded in place, with most programming unfolding outdoors and close to the water.

Planning a Trip

Taste of Exuma runs May 14–17, a period known for warm water, lighter crowds, and easy travel access to Exuma. The festival introduces a new reason to time a trip around food, pairing Exuma’s natural appeal with a focused culinary experience designed to feel intimate, local, and island-led.

For a destination long defined by its sea, Taste of Exuma adds something new to the table.