Festival Queen Finalists Visit Information Minister

The Jamaica Festival Queen Competition continues to be a valuable platform that enables young women to advocate for important issues that impact national development.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, met with the competition’s 2022 finalists on Tuesday (July 26) in a courtesy call at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

He engaged the finalists in conversation and encouraged suggestions for greater engagement of youth in government policies, civic duty, social order and other areas of national development.

Noting that the platform provides valuable networking opportunities, he encouraged the finalists to nurture the friendships and bonds that have been formed, even beyond the competition.

“As you go through life and you make progress, you pull your sisters with you if they need help… I hope that you will maintain relationships with each other for the long term,” he said.

Mr. Morgan, who observed that most of the parish queens represent rural communities of Jamaica, encouraged the finalists to utilise the platform to bring visibility to issues in their respective communities and find solutions.

National Coordinator for the Jamaica Festival Queen Competition, Michael Nicholson, said more rigorous training of the parish queens has been undertaken as part of their preparations to ensure a first-class show as Jamaica celebrates its 60th year of Independence.

In addition, this year’s Coronation Show which is slated to be held on August 1, will see past festival queens being honoured for their philanthropic works during their respective reigns.

“We have also added, this year, queens who have served as festival queens, we have actually called them back to honour them for their service,” he informed.

The finalists, aged 18 to 24, who represent all 14 parishes in Jamaica, will be engaging in projects to address a range of social issues. These include farming/livestock production, tutoring in mathematics, youth unemployment and the visual and performing arts.

The Jamaica Festival Queen Competition is an annual feature of Jamaica’s Festival activities, which occur during the period approaching Independence Day. The competition is organised and run by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).