National Festival Calendar to be Created

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Honourable Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange says her Ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Tourism towards maximising earnings from culture and entertainment.

To this end, the Culture Ministry is in the process of establishing a National Calendar of major entertainment activities which will be marketed by the Tourism Ministry.

“We are committed to the establishment of a National Festival Calendar with a support plan for the staging of each event,” said Minister Grange at the launch of the first One World Ska and Rocksteady Music Festival yesterday (August 9).

According to Minister Grange, both the Ministries of Culture and Tourism are being charged to ensure that events on the National Festival Calendar are properly promoted and marketed.

“You are not marketing a festival two months ahead of time, you are marketing a festival a year, two years, three years in advance so that you are able to sell the rooms, the entertainment and other value added products,” said the Minister.

She said the collaboration between the ministries is to ensure that visitors get a holistic Jamaican cultural experience when they visit the island.

Minister Grange congratulated Julian ‘Jingles’ Reynolds and his team for conceptualising the One World Ska & Rocksteady Music Festival, the first of its kind in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.