Dave Fenimore, a driving force for Island Fish Fry

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, February 2, 2023 – A bridge to cultural connection is how David Fenimore one of the creators of island Fish Fry described the event.

“It’s not [just] a tourist thing, you look out here you see locals and a mix of guests and everybody is having a good time,” he told us in the midst of hundreds celebrating the event’s 10th anniversary.

Fenimore reminisced on the very beginning which he and Ralph Higgs, another mind behind the event and for whom he had great praises, know intimately.

“It was a very slow start, we had to get an understanding of what we were going for, it took a while but here we are— It’s really amazing we started with 12 vendors, the Youth Center and National Trust, we now have 42 vendors; we’ve done a lot in 10 years. This has been a helping hand for so many.”

That 2013 event with only 12 vendors began in the Bight Children’s Park but quickly swelled beyond its capacity.  He reiterated what many others had already expressed to us; a staunch pride at how well the Fish Fry had supported local artists.

“The artisans came out and saw there was a place to display their wares.  The local mom and pops said ‘now I have an avenue to do something’ and that’s exactly what we were aiming for.”

Fenimore told us with the size of the waiting list for spots at Fish Fry now they could easily double the number of vendors currently registered.

“The guests go home feeling like there is a cultural aspect to the Turks and Caicos. It’s brought all the best of the locals out.  It brought together everything that was sitting out there waiting to happen… More than we could ever expect.” he said proudly.

Island Fish Fry celebrated its ten-year anniversary on January 26th 2023.