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Reggae Month 2020 launch

Beats, birthday and bashment party

Published:Thursday | December 5, 2019 | 12:00 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
Reggae dancers in performance at the Reggae Month launch.
Chinese Ambassador to Jamaica Tian Qi flips through a reggae calendar gifted to him by Java Immanuel-l.
Richie Spice performs.
Chi Ching Ching (left) and Sean Paul perform at the Reggae Month launch atThe Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Tuesday.
Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, shares a piece of his surprise birthday cake with Minister of Entertainment, Olivia Grange.
ZJ Sparks playing during the ‘Tune Fa Tuene’ segment with Richie Feelings.
Singer, Jahbari (left) shares lens time with Cedric Myton of The Congos fame.
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It was what Miss Lou would have called a boonoonoonoos affair, and the millennials in the crowd no doubt considered it lit. Government ministers feeding each other with cake; performances from Sean Paul, Chi Ching Ching, Richie Spice and Jesse Royal; dancers showing off their skills; big screens at every angle; paintings depicting music scenes; refreshment on ­demand and a sea of people rubbing shoulders while eagerly heeding the call to ‘ketch the riddim’, all against the background of the pulsating beat of ­reggae music.

This bashment party, staged, quite appropriately, at the Talk of The Town, Jamaica Pegasus, New Kingston, was the official launch of Reggae Month 2020, and to say that Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange outdid ­herself is an understatement.

Perhaps the fact that it was the birthday of Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett – who was fêted with a huge cake and song – that added to the celebratory nature of the launch, but it was clearly great planning that accounted for the throng in attendance, which was comparable in size only to a Sting launch in its heyday. Chairman of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA), Ewan Simpson, dubbed it “a very good gathering of the industry”. While lauding the ministries of culture and tourism for the staging of such a high-quality event, of which JaRIA was proud to be a part, he also hailed the combined effort.

“It is good to see that at the highest level of Government there is commitment that we are going to make this Reggae Month big. The fact that the launch was held earlier than usual gives us two months to promote and get the traction that we need,” Simpson told The Gleaner.

Minister Bartlett, during his stint at the podium, confessed that “we’ve been playing with this music over the years” and indicated that those days were over. “Reggae,” he stated, “is the heartbeat of Jamaica, so Jamaica will become the heartbeat of the world.”

Bartlett, who stated that he and Minister Grange are joined at the hip, as they work together on a common goal, said the focus was on how to reimagine the relationship between music and Brand Jamaica, and create that tourism reggae product. “The focus is how to package and create a product, not just events, not just Reggae Month, but how to make the month opinionated; how to make Jamaica ablaze with the fire of reggae; and how to market the reggae experience to the world,” he expanded.

Prior to his address, Alexandra Davis, vice-mayor of the City of Miramar, Florida, USA, a first-­generation Jamaican-American, was proud to reveal that there will be a joint Reggae and Black History Month launch in her city, come January. Davis also revealed that all the elected officials there are either born in Jamaica or are first-­generation Jamaican-Americans.

A beaming, dancing Minister Grange was the embodiment of the theme of Reggae Month 2020 – ‘Come Ketch de Riddim’. She updated the capacity audience on the Reggae Month activities, including the children of icons and emerging artistes series, which will see concerts staged islandwide during February. She disclosed that a Reggae Month app will be launched in January next year. The minister also spoke to the entertainment zone issue and noted that the building out has started at Fort Rocky, which was named a zone from 2017. She revealed that three other areas have been identified in Portmore, Negril and Trelawny. “If you want to party 24/7, you are free to do so.”

Also among Tuesday’s ­speakers were Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams; vice-president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Christopher Jarrett; and Simpson. Making her big stage debut in fine style at the event was 12-year-old Shaienna Martin, the daughter of ­entertainer, Lutan Fyah.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com