16/07/2026
: Organizers of the first ever pear (avocado) festival, which will be held this summer, marked a major milestone with the launch of the festival last Thursday, at the Verandah, Juice Empowerment Park, Clarendon.
The Mocho Pear Festival is being spearheaded by the Mocho Homecoming Limited (MHL) and is intended to leverage the locally revered reputation of the rural Clarendon community, for which the festival is named, as top producer of the Simmonds and other varieties of pears, as an economic driver of Jamaica’s agricultural production in the coming years.
Speaking at the launch, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Junior, who held the post of Minister of Agriculture during the incubatory stage of the MHL’s push for avocado as an orchard crop, applauded the efforts of the team thus far and charged them to ensure the mission also brings entrepreneurial opportunities to the residents of Mocho, even as it attracts larger investors.
“I really want to pray over everything that is taking place here, that it becomes a true success where you will see young men and women become entrepreneurs…,” Charles said.
He continued: “Labour and agriculture have an interconnection and it is opportunity – that’s what comes from these kinds of initiatives, it creates a chance for people to be creative.”
The Mocho Pear Festival and Homecoming celebrations will begin on August 2 with a church service at the Brixton Hill United Church, night football matches at Mount Airy and Mocho Community centres on August 2 and 9 respectively, a health fair at the Ashely Primary School on August 5 and the marquee Pear Festival on August 8 at the Lennon High School.
