The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) is calling all past and future participants and all other creatives to get ready for the opening of entries of the 2021 competition cycle on Thursday, April 29.
The competitions that are slated to begin accepting entries are the Festival of the Performing Arts subject areas of Dance, Drama & Theatre, Speech and Music; the Jamaica Culinary Arts Competition, The Jamaica Creative Writing Competition, the Jamaica Visual Arts Competition, Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition, Jamaica Festival Song Competition and the Jamaica Gospel Song Competition.
“The COVID 19 pandemic has truly done a great disservice to the development of the arts, and has left many of our creatives worried about the sustainability of their crafts and the related financial effects. Therefore, we are elated to announce that we will indeed be hosting our competitions this year, though slightly modified to suit the virtual atmosphere that will keep our participants, adjudicators and audiences safe,” said Andrew Clunis, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the JCDC.
“2021 has been dubbed the year of the soloist by the JCDC as we will only be accepting entries of solo performers across our competitions, in support of the national social distancing protocols caused by the pandemic,” Clunis continued.
Clunis further stated that all entries for the JCDC competitions will be accepted through an online platform, which will also be launched on April 29, during a virtual press conference. This press conference will also give additional information on the entry process and guidelines for each competition.
“We will host a virtual press conference on April 29 to share additional information on all of our 2021 competitions with the public, as well as to give them some general guidance in navigating the new parameters of the competitions due to the COVID-19 related changes,” Clunis said.
“In the meantime, we are telling all our creatives to get ready- put your creative pieces, your culinary delights and your patriotic and moving songs together, because the JCDC is ready and rearing to open the gates of our 2021 competition cycle,” he continued.