The St. Lucia Tourist Board on Friday December 19th, 2008 announced the cancellation of the 2009 Food and Rum festival scheduled for January 15th - 19th 2009.

The 3rd Edition of this gastronomic event was originally scheduled to be held at the picturesque Pigeon Island Causeway the same venue set to host the Caribbean Marketplace 2009.

Speaking on behalf of the St. Lucia Tourist Board, Acting Director Mr. Louis Lewis said earlier today: "We are disappointed that we have been forced to cancel the event. Through our co-producer Neysha Sooden of Tout Bagai, we identified potential sponsors for the event and preparations and planning were going very smoothly with a small team working very hard on this project. However, it became increasingly apparent that, given the increasing demands that will be placed on the participating restaurants through the hosting of the CHA 2009 only days after the proposed event, and also that it became obvious that a number of our potential sponsors were facing challenges which resulted in them being unable to confirm their participation, the St. Lucia Tourist Board has reluctantly agreed to cancel the festival.

The St. Lucia Tourist Board and its co-producer Tout Bagai publication wishes to thank all the persons and sponsors who had already accepted an invitation to participate in this event and apologizes for any inconvenience the cancellation may have caused them. An announcement will be made in the New Year about the staging of the next St. Lucia Food & Rum festival with a new and modified format.