The inaugural Rainforest Seafood Festival turned out to be a massive success on Ash Wednesday with some 10,000 patrons supporting the event.

The event showcased seafood dishes prepared by some of Jamaica's best chefs as well as a range of entertainment that appealed to every demographic.

Held at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre, the venue opened at 10 a.m. and before 3 p.m. was solidly packed. The event featured all-day entertainment, including stilt walkers, dancers, face-painting, fair ground rides and an organised children's village. Local artistes performed throughout the day while MCs Ity and Fancy Cat did well to engage the crowd, making way for headline acts like Beenie Man, I-Octane, Ken Boothe, Prodigal Son, Romain Virgo, Tifa and Chronixx.

All proceeds from the event will go to the We Care organisation at the Cornwall Regional Hospital. We Care is a non-profit, philanthropic organisation dedicated to remedying the regional hospital's dire need for additional manpower, basic health-care equipment and infrastructural upgrades.

Approximately $6.1 million has been raised from the festival. Max Jardim of Rainforest Seafoods said he is extremely happy with the support the festival got.

"Being our first year, this event has been nothing short of amazing. The turnout was fantastic, the food, the entertainment, everything worked well together to create a superb event. We are truly elated and look forward to handing over the proceeds to the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where the funds will be used to purchase much-needed supplies and equipment," Jardim said.

The festival's main sponsors, including Red Stripe, Pepsi, Scotiabank, National Bakery and CB Chicken, played their part in the effort to raise much-needed funds for this worthy cause. Part proceeds of sales also went to the charity.

Catherine Goodall, Pepsi's trade marketing manager, said that she was overwhelmed by the support and was happy to report that all her products sold well. Erin Mitchell, brand manager for Red Stripe, echoed similar sentiments saying that this was such a worthy cause and Red Stripe had to be a part of it. She said that all the bars did extremely well.

Organisers hope for the festival to become an annual fund-raising event and look forward to making the next instalment bigger and better.