Dwayne "Suga" Williams is a Pioneer of Jerk Food in the US - His Event "Suga Reggae Fest" Will Be Held in October

There were few Jamaican restaurants in South Florida when Dwayne Williams moved there from Jamaica in the late 1970s. Over the years, he has seen a cosmopolitan embrace of his country’s cuisine in the United States, particularly jerked food.

Dwayne "Suga" WilliamsThat spicy dish will be on show at Suga Reggae Fest, an event scheduled for October 27 at The Centennial Park in Fort Myers. It also features a number of leading reggae-dancehall acts such as Grammy winner Mykal Rose, Mr. Easy, A J Brown and Round Head.

Williams first staged an event showcasing jerked food in 2000 in Hialeah. Since then, he has promoted similar shows in Atlanta, Port Charlotte and Cape Coral.

“As a child in Jamaica, that’s all we did in Montego Bay…cook jerk food. When I did the Hialeah show, that’s what I did…I brought jerk from the country to the US,” he explained.

Suga Reggae Fest also features the Jerk Cook Off which is open to 12 contestants with an entry fee of $500. The winner receives $2,000.

Known in Jamaican Diaspora circles as Suga, Dwayne Williams is founder and CEO of Suga 95.7 FM, an independent radio station based in Fort Myers. It has a 24-hour, all-Jamaican format that includes reggae going back to the 1960s, a gospel show and talk program that discusses issues affecting the Jamaican community in Florida.

Suga 95.7 FM is the first Jamaican radio station in the United States granted a license by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Williams first applied for a radio station license in 1996 but it was not until 2015 that he got the go-ahead to officially launch his broadcast venture.

Round Head, a former member of dancehall group The Monster Shack Crew, will be honored at Suga Reggae Fest.