Healthy Living NC and Yelp will present SummerFest 19 on Saturday at Battleship Park.

One of the festival’s premier events will be a street food cook-off showcasing Jamaican, Caribbean and Latin foods prepared by local chefs and restaurants, and benefiting Centro Hispano of UNCW, an organization that serves more than 1,000 Hispanic/Latino students at UNCW by providing academic support, mentoring and professional development opportunities. 

Cook-off competitors such as La Brasa Mexican Taqueria, Jamaica House Restaurant and Los Portales Taqueria will each be given a set of secret ingredients just a day before the festival, which they must use in their dishes.

Ticket holders will taste food from each vendor and cast their vote for their favorite dish. 

The festival, which is free to the public, will include a variety of vendors promoting fitness and wellness products and services, and musical performances by artists such as Amani Smith & The Give Thanks Band and D.H.I.M. Reggae Band.

The kid’s zone will include activities and bounce houses, as well as an exotic wildlife presentation from Eastern Exotics. 

Tickets will be required for the street food cook-off, and Step Up For Soldiers will be sponsoring a beer garden for those ages 21 and older. 

The festival runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Battleship North Carolina, 1 Battleship Road, Wilmington. 

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