Emancipation Jubilee slated for Seville Heritage Park from July 31 to August 1

The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) will spearhead Emancipation Jubilee celebrations at the Seville Great House and Heritage Park in St Ann's Bay, St Ann, from Wednesday, July 31 to Emancipation Day, Thursday, August 1.

The annual event, which honours the contributions of the African ancestors through song, dance, drumming, drama, food and fashion, will begin at 8:00 p.m. on July 31 and end at 6:00 a.m. on August 1.

Director of Public Education, Public Relations and Communication at the JNHT, Lorna Bailey, told JIS News that the event promises to have a host of activities and offerings for patrons.

“There is the artisan village where persons [can] come and view the various arts and crafts made locally. There is [also] a food court where persons can enjoy the various traditional cuisine [like] ackee and saltfish, jerked pork and cornmeal pudding. A highlight of the event is that we serve complementary chocolate tea right throughout the night, once you come with your enamel mug. If you have any, walk with it for the event,” she said.

Bailey further informed that there will be various exhibitors at the venue who have partnered with the JNHT for the event, which will also have different segments.

“There are three different segments on the programme. The gates open at 6:00 p.m., and we will start at 8:00 p.m. with a video presentation on the Jamaica National Heritage Trust celebrating 65 years of preserving heritage in Jamaica, and then we will start the programme. You will see traditional cultural groups performing, such as Hertford Culture Group, and we will have [the] Islington Culture Group, and Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) finalists and winners,” she informed.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, will deliver the main address at midnight, which will be followed by the event's civic ceremony and floral tribute.

“It entails the re-enactment of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation will be read by Director of Arts Development and Training at the JCDC, Andrew Brodber, and after that we will go into the floral tribute. The floral tribute will be led by Minister Grange and other officials… slated to be in attendance,” Mrs. Bailey indicated.

She said the floral tribute will pay homage to three enslaved Africans whose skeletal remains were exhumed in 1997 and ceremonially reburied in front of the Great House.

“So that is the reason why we are doing this event each year in Seville, to honour [and] commemorate the memory of our ancestors,” Bailey said.

The Director pointed out that the annual event also aims to pass down knowledge about the life and contributions of the African ancestors to the younger generation.

She maintained that “the knowledge and the history and the heritage will help to shape their future”.

Admission to the Emancipation Jubilee is free; however, patrons must obtain a ticket to enter the venue.

Tickets are available at the JNHT, 79 Duke Street, downtown Kingston, and the Seville Heritage Park in St Ann's Bay. Tickets will also be available at the gate.

“We're just encouraging persons to come out. It is a huge property and we have a shuttle system in place. So persons would park in the general parking lot and be shuttled up to the Great House to get their tickets and come into the venue. It's a family event, [one] where persons can come to learn about your history and embrace your Africanness,” Bailey said.

The Seville Emancipation Jubilee celebrations will also be broadcast live on Television Jamaica and streamed on all the Facebook and YouTube pages of the Ministry of Culture, Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ), JCDC, and JNHT.

- JIS News

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