#Jamaica, October 27, 2017 – Kingston – Pop-up shops with craft items, traditional foods and a costume parade are among the many activities at the annual Heritage Festival 2017 to be held at the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) on Friday, October 27.
Scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. at the IOJ’s head office on East Street in downtown Kingston, the event is being organised by the Institute. Divisions of the Institute, namely, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum of Jamaica and the Junior Centre, will be available for visitors.
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, will open the festival at an official ceremony beginning at 11:00 a.m. In attendance will be the Member of Parliament for Central Kingston, Reverend Ronald Thwaites.
Executive Director of the IOJ, Vivian Crawford, told JIS News that the event is being held to observe the 145th anniversary of Kingston as the capital of Jamaica.
“It is also the 325th anniversary of Kingston as a parish after the 1692 earthquake, and it’s also the 110th anniversary of Kingston after the earthquake and fire of 1907,” he said.
Mr. Crawford said that during the earthquake, there was an agricultural conference in session at a building where the Kingston Technical High School is now located. Among the delegates at the conference was the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens, Mark Charles Dickens. “So that’s a part of our heritage,” he said.
There will be bus tours to places of interest around the city for school children. The Executive Director said the tours, which will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., will include visits to places such as the Bank of Jamaica, the Ward Theatre, the Myrtle Bank Hotel (built in 1891) and the place on Orange Street where the late Venezuelan Liberator, Simón Bolívar, stayed in 1815 during his nine months in Jamaica.
Mr. Crawford said there will also be a costume parade moving along the street from the Natural History Museum to the Institute. At the event, the audience will be entertained by various cultural performances and by members of the Blue Glades Mento Band and other musical groups.
Persons seeking further information on the tour can email their queries to info@instituteofjamaica.org.jm or call 922-0620-6
The Heritage Festival, which is in its fourth year, is the IOJ’s contribution to the celebratory activities for Heritage Month.
Release: JIS
