Portland Festival UK

t of St. During that same year a grant of thirty acres of land was offered by the Governor to every white Protestant wishing to settle in Portland. To every free mulatto, Indian, or Negro, was offered a grant of twenty acres, all in an attempt to populate the parish. The response to the offer was so poor, that the Governor increased his incentives to include provisions of beef and flour and an offer to free the inhabitants from taxes and arrest for three years. However, all these efforts came to naught as the prospective immigrants were unable to withstand the rigours of cultivating on the mountainsides and the challenges of the Maroons who lived in the intimidating Blue and John Crow Mountains. After a series of battles with the Maroons during the 1730s, the British captured Nanny Town, the settlement governed by the woman who was later to become Jamaica’s first National Heroine: Nanny. Eventually many prosperous sugar plantations were developed near the coast. The parish experienced a later period of prosperity during the banana boom, which also contributed to the development of the capital of Port Antonio as one of Jamaica’s first tourist resorts with one of the island’s popular attractions, rafting on the Rio Grande and the annual Blue Marlin fishing tournament. SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS

The Nonsuch Caves
A popular story goes that these caves were ‘discovered’ in 1957 by a goat who seemed to have lost its way. In actuality, the caves had been home to the Taino people in the past

Athenry Gardens
These gardens, adjoining the Nonsuch Caves, offer a breath taking view of the Port Antonio Harbour. Blue Lagoon
A fifty-five metre (180 ft) deep extinct volcano, surrounded by lush tropical foliage, the Blue Lagoon is fed by underground streams.