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Maidstone Gears up for Annual Emancipation Fair

June 9, 2005

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The Nazareth All-age School in Manchester is to benefit from the annual Maidstone Emancipation fair, which will be held on the school grounds on Monday, August 1.
Plans are in high gear for the staging of the event, which is being organised by the Maidstone Community Council (MCC) and the Nazareth All-age Past Students’ Association. Activities will include a gospel concert, quadrille and maypole dances and a performance by popular reggae artiste, Tony Rebel. Patrons will also be able to partake of traditional cuisine such as cornmeal and potato pudding, boiled corn, hominy porridge, curry goat and tie-a-leaf.
Secretary for the MCC, Jacinth Firth, told JIS News that all proceeds from the fair would go towards the upgrading of the school. “To date, the MCC has helped the school to finish off a computer laboratory”, she informed, noting that the funds raised would be used to upgrade the staff room, do additional work on the water tank, fix the hard court and improve the parking facility. “We will also be trying to get electricity restored to the local basic school,” she said.
Ms. Firth informed that Hurricane Ivan had done significant damage to many of the historic building in the Maidstone community, and the MCC was looking at ways to restore some of the structures that were still standing. “The old slave hospital and the old manse were demolished.the local Moravian church was also significantly damaged during the hurricane”, she lamented.
Established by the Moravian church as a free village in the 1840s, Maidstone is rich in history, with many residents still bearing the original names of their ancestors.
Ms. Firth expressed the hope that by attending the fair, patrons would have a better grasp of Jamaican tradition, music and culture.

Last Updated: June 9, 2005

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