Slate of Activities in Rural Parishes for Jamaica 63

Jamaicans in rural parishes are being encouraged to participate in the slate of events to be held in communities across the island for Jamaica 63 Independence celebrations.

The activities are being organised by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport through the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), under the theme ‘Be Proud, Be Bold in Black, Green, and Gold’.

Speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, portfolio Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, said there will be mini galas across the country on August 6 that promise to bring just as much excitement as the grand gala at the National Stadium in Kingston.

“There will be fireworks in Ocho Rios, Negril and Montego Bay that will be almost as exciting as what you will see in Kingston. There will be smaller fireworks, maybe five-minute segments across the island in the different parish capitals”, she pointed out.

She noted that while many persons look forward to being at the grand gala, physical space is limited.

“The National Stadium can only accommodate so many individuals, and so we are asking those from the rural areas to enjoy the celebrations that we are producing for you in your parish rather than coming into Kingston to be at the national stadium, where there’s a capacity which we cannot exceed. We encourage you to enjoy what is being offered in your local communities, in your parish capitals,” the Minister urged.

Director of the Community Cultural Development Services Division at the JCDC, Marjorie Leyden-Kirton, told JIS News that the celebrations will be taken to as many communities across the country as possible.

“We take all our work, all our festivals, all our competitions to the deep [rural] areas of Jamaica. We have about 800 communities. We may not reach all 800 but we definitely will be spreading and taking our celebrations to many of the communities,” she noted.

Preparations for parish activities are under way with parish councillors and municipal corporations already engaged in the process.

“Our councillors are very close to the work that we do and they take this to their communities. We’ve been promoting the festival theme, so we’re looking forward to what town capitals and communities will be doing with decorating business places and areas in the towns. We’ve been on the ground from as early as May going to communities and sharing and preparing persons for the festival,” Mrs. Leyden-Kirton outlined.

“In each parish, we encourage what we call parish cultural committees [and] on those committees, we find we have our businesspersons interacting with us, many persons from various organisations such as banks and schools. That is where we get our support…which is not just cash, but people coming out from these business places and communities to participate in the celebrations,” she pointed out.