The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport will begin accepting entries for its various competitions for 2017 come Thursday, September 1. These competitions include the Jamaica Culinary Arts Competition, Jamaica Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition, Jamaica Creative Writing Competition and Exhibition, Jamaica Adult and Children’s Gospel Song Competitions, Jamaica Festival Song Competition, Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition, World Reggae Dance Championship and National Festival of the Performing Arts which covers the areas of Dance and Deaf Dance, Drama, Music, Speech and Traditional Folk Forms.
According to JCDC Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Stephen Davidson: “In addition to creating avenues to foster the creative and cultural expressions of all our entrants, the JCDC’s competitions also unearth, develop, preserve and promote our nation’s rich culture and heritage.”
Davison continued, “The opportunities to our entrants are priceless and often life changing, but our competitions also offers attractive prizes such as cash incentives, trophies and gift packages”.
“It is also to be noted that while entries are being accepted, the JCDC will be doing a road tour in town capitals and across the island to provide the public with information on all competitions. We are also organizing island-wide workshops in the various areas to sharpen and hone the skills of participants.” He also added.
Davidson further stated that though entries for all competitions open on September 1, they have varied closing dates. Entries for the Jamaica Gospel Song, Children’s Gospel Song, Festival Song and National Festival of the Performing Arts Competitions will close on November 25, 2016, while the Jamaica Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition closes on January 27, 2017.
The deadline for the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition and the Jamaica Culinary Arts Competition is February 28, 2017 and March 16, 2017 respectively. The Jamaica Creative Writing Competition and Exhibition will have an April 28 deadline, while the World Reggae Dance Championship will close for entries on June 30, 2017.
