Good friends enjoying the great foods at the 2025 Codman Square Caribbean Jerk Festival.

The Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation is preparing to host its free 8th annual Caribbean Jerk Festival on July 25 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The purpose of the celebration is to showcase “the cultural contributions that community members hailing from the Caribbean Islands have made to the Codman Square commercial corridor and beyond.” The Jerk Festival will be held at The Second Church of Dorchester at 44 Moultrie St. Naldo Cardoso, small business specialist at Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, shared more about this annual event.

“We decided to create the event just to take an opportunity to thank the restaurants, to highlight them and to show appreciation for what they have done for the community,” he said.

Community members have the opportunity to sample Caribbean food, such as jerk chicken, vegetarian options and more from local award-winning Dorchester restaurants. The restaurants participating in this year’s event are the following: Irie Jamaican Style Restaurant, Island Style Restaurant, Murl’s Kitchen and Raphael’s Restaurant.

Cardoso also shared some of the other family-friendly activities happening at the festival, which includes a live DJ and a steel drum orchestra performance, along with other nonfood businesses and community organizations.

He also shared why it is important to have events like the Jerk Festival in the community to celebrate different cultures and their contributions in the city.

“It’s definitely nice not only for the restaurants, but also [for] members hailing from the Caribbean to have an event where the community comes out just to show appreciation for all they have done — not only in the restaurant sense, but in building the community.”

For the past 8 years, Cardoso shared that the Jerk Festival typically draws in 300 to 400 community members to support the restaurants and have a great time fellowshiping with one another. Cardoso also shared some of the festival favorites when it comes to food, which included the jerk chicken, rasta pasta, jerk pork, stew chicken and rice and peas.

Lastly, he gives his advice for community members who have never attended the Festival to give it a try this year.

“Definitely come out, enjoy the festival,” he said. “The event itself is free, so you don’t have to feel pressure to come to buy [a] plate of food. You can bring your kids out, enjoy the live music, enjoy the face painting, enjoy the community.”

ON THE WEB

Learn more at. csndc.com/events/8th-annual-caribbean-jerk-festival