Jamaica 50 Secretariat outlines Jubilee Village layout
The Jamaica 50 Secretariat has announced details of the events to be staged at Independence Park in St. Andrew during official celebratory period for Jamaica 50, August 1 – 6. The event s will unfold at ‘Jubilee Village’ which encompasses a number of venues along Arthur Wint Drive.
The National Arena will house an Exhibition Hall to showcase Jamaica over 50 years and will include an introduction to the Jamaica Sports Museum, which will be established as a Jamaica 50 legacy project.
Director of Events, Lisa-Ann Ogilvie informed, “The exhibition will present a retrospective view with the participation of many corporate entities whose corporate history has mirrored Jamaica’s 50 as an independent nation.” These entities include businesses, ministries and agencies.
According to Miss Ogilvie, the organizers are expecting a large number of visitors. “The National Arena is expected to draw a huge audience from the projected 165, 000 persons expected to visit the Jubilee Village over the six-day period,” she said.
Additionally, the Arena, the East and West Wings of the Jubilee Village, encompassing the car park and adjoining areas, will offer commercial opportunities for food and craft vendors as well as advertisers.
The National Stadium Car Park and Adjoining External Spaces along Arthur Wint Drive will be transformed into a major outdoor venue that will house vendors, sponsors, a Children’s Village, as well as a major performance stage.
Explaining the rollout of the activities at this venue, Project Director Robert Bryan noted, “This venue will house a continuous programme of entertainment and activities night and day from 12 noon to 1 am from August 1 – 5 ending at 10 am on August 6.”
He noted that the venue’s multimedia screen transmit the live Olympic feeds that will be supplied to Jamaica 50 by the official broadcast station in Jamaica for the Olympics, CVM TV in association with its sponsors .
The Village will host the Jamaica 50 Broadcast Centre that will facilitate the live broadcast of all the events and activities across Jamaica, including in the 14 Parish Villages islandwide, to the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. This will be facilitated by Jamaica 50 global media partners, RJR Communications Group and Lime, which will provide an interface for any to other TV network or platform to join and share the celebrations. This infrastructure will also provide streaming capabilities over the internet, social media pages and mobile devices.
The National Indoor Sports Centre will on August 2 host Mello-Go-Roun, the premier festival family show featuring the best of the best in the performing arts, while the National Stadium will house the Grand Gala on August 6, Independence Day.
According to Executive Director of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, Delroy Gordon, admission to the Grand Gala will require a ticket.
"Although the event is free. Admission is only by tickets only. Ticket outlets will be publicised a week or two before the event. We will ensure tickets will be at those outlets."
He explained that as not everyone will be able to visit the venue "persons in rural parishes will be able to view what is happening via big screens that are going to be established in town squares and various points of interest across the island and of course it is going to be beamed across the Diaspora."
In a call to unity, Mr. Bryan urged, “Let is all join as one great nation and celebrate our history. Let us teach the next generation the values and what makes us truly Jamaican as we together, young and old write the next 50 years as an independent nation.”
