Fun And Excitement at Seville Heritage Expo

It was an atmosphere of fun and excitement when students and teachers from 250 schools islandwide gathered on the grounds of the Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann on Wednesday, October 12, for the 24th staging of the Seville Heritage Expo.

The event was filled with an array of cultural activities, ranging from exhibitions, dance, art to music.

Students also competed in dance and quiz competitions and were exposed to the Nigerian culture through drama.

The event also featured exhibitions from the Nigerian Embassy, Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), Dolphin Cove, Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) and the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

Heritage Event Consultant for the 2022 Heritage Expo, Joan Seagears, said the expo was geared towards raising cultural awareness and appreciation among the students, while exposing them to Jamaica’s rich and diverse history.

“We hope that through this event each year, we will be able to motivate people to understand and immerse themselves into the culture, because as Marcus Garvey said, ‘without the knowledge of our past, we are nothing’. So, we explain to our students that it’s a part of us, it is a way for us to move forward positively,” she said.

She described this year’s staging as a success, noting that the intended purpose of the event was achieved.

“When I look at the students and see their faces and see that although people used to say that history is a subject that they don’t like, we can see from the excitement on their faces. We packaged it in such a way that although we are teaching, we give them some excitement,” she explained.

Ms. Seagears added that patrons will be in for a bigger treat at next year’s staging.

“Next year it will be bigger, and we will have more activities and … more input from the Jamaican public,” she said.

Meanwhile, patrons and stakeholders had high praises for the event, hailing it as a tool to further enhance learning and promote appreciation for the Jamaican Culture.

In an interview with JIS News, Public Education Officer, and Documentalist at the Jamaica National Commission for UNESCO, Doolarie Hopkinson, said the event was used to promote the role of the agency as well as to educate students on the value of Jamaica’s heritage.

“This year, we are on a visibility programme. So, this would be one of our ways to showcase JNUNESCO. We thought, culture is one of our main programmes, and since we are with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport we thought it would be good to be here,” she added.

Teacher at Vista Preparatory in Discovery Bay, St. Ann, Alexia Brown, said the expo provided an opportunity for students to make a connection between their classroom learning experiences and the world, “to get them exposed, and to see things that we [teach] them every day”.

Grade-five student at the Priory Primary and Infant School in St Ann, Keandra Daley, described the event as educational, noting that she gained insight about the life and work of the nation’s national heroes.

“My favourite part of today is to see everyone [coming] out [to] celebrate our national heroes, because they fought so hard for us to be free, and I learned more about the national heroes,” she said.