Submit Creative Pieces Early for Performing Arts Competitions – JCDC

Persons should submit their creative pieces early for the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s (JCDC) 2025 Festival of the Performing Arts Competitions, even if they are not quite ready.

“There is a kind of mistaken belief that the piece you are entering must be state ready, and we want to debunk that,” said the agency’s Executive Director, Lenford Salmon.

“Once you have identified the individual speech piece [for example], enter it and then you go work on it to prepare it,” he advised.

Mr. Salmon was speaking during a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’ at the agency’s head office in Kingston.

Entries for the 2025 Festival of the Performing Arts opened on Monday, November 4, and the deadline for submissions is December 13, 2024.

Persons can enter the competitions by logging on to the JCDC’s new digital platform – www.jcdc.awardsplatform.com.

Mr. Salmon urged persons not to wait until the last minute to send in their entries and risk missing the deadline.

“Don’t wait until December 10 to start entering. Enter now and then go prepare your piece,” he advised.

The Executive Director said the frequent extension of the deadline to accommodate late entries interferes with the entire programme, including the auditions, parish and national finals, and the JCDC’s schedule.

“So although we sympathise with somebody who may miss the date, we prefer if we don’t have to do that again, because it affects our programme of activities and makes it less ideal for you, our main stakeholders,” he stated.

Mr. Salmon thanked the teachers and other stakeholders for assisting and leading the process.

“I see the excitement that it brings, particularly to our children, just to be a part of this cultural landscape,” he pointed out.

Director of Arts Development and Training at the JCDC, Andrew Brodber, in his remarks, challenged persons who have never entered one of the Commission’s competitions to do so this year.

“You need to enter and shine in 2025. So, when it comes to the performing arts especially, I want to see some new faces,” he said.

Mr. Brodber noted that regular entrants can testify to the benefits of being a part of any of the JCDC’s programmes.

The Performing Arts Competition is held in three stages –parish auditions, parish finals and national finals.

Gold medallists in each class and category at the parish level, along with other entrants adjudged to be top performers at this stage, move on to the national finals where they compete for trophies.

Others receive silver or bronze medals, or merit pins, depending on the quality of their performances.