Free Entry to Emancipation Jubilee at Seville Heritage Park

Entry to this year’s Emancipation Jubilee at the Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann, will be free of cost.

The event will be held from July 31 into Emancipation Day on August 1.

Emancipation Jubilee will honour the contribution of the African ancestors through song, dance, drumming, drama, food and fashion.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, provided details in the House of Representatives on July 26.

She mentioned the main celebration period of Jamaica’s Diamond Jubilee, to be held from July 27 to August 7.

“On Sunday evening (July 31), we will gather at Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann for Emancipation Jubilee, where we will pay homage to our ancestors who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today. We will be granting free admission to Seville Heritage Park for Emancipation Jubilee this year,” she said.

Ms. Grange also informed that a plaque will be unveiled in honour of late pan-Africanist, Minion Phillips.

“She played a critical role in the return of the remains of two enslaved persons… buried at the back of the great house… to Ghana where they were reinterred,” she said.

Affectionately called Sister Minnie, she championed the cause of pan-Africanism for several decades.

Mrs. Phillips is the ex-wife of former People’s National Party President and former Opposition Leader, Dr. Peter Phillips. She’s the mother of four of Dr. Phillips’ children, including Manchester North West Member of Parliament, Mikhael Phillips.

Meanwhile, Minister Grange said among the performers for the Emancipation Jubilee are Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths, Westrok, Sister Pat and a number of other outstanding Jamaican performers.

“We will also have our cultural groups – the Morant Bay Kumina Group, the Charles Town Maroons and the Islington Cultural Group,” she said.

The Emancipation Jubilee will be preceded by the Jamaica 60 National Thanksgiving Service, which will be held on Sunday, July 31 at Boulevard Baptist Church, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Among the dignitaries participating in the national service will be the Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness and Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding.