Kingston, Jamaica, October 27, 2023: The Honourable Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sport, has thrown her weight behind plans to stage the inaugural Dancehall Week during the 2024 staging of Reggae Month.
The Minister was represented by Lenford Salmon, Executive Director of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), at the Media Launch at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Thursday, October 26, 2023. She announced that the event is a welcomed new addition to the slate of events to be staged during Reggae Month each year and comes with the full endorsement of not just the Ministry of Culture itself but also the JCDC, one of its Culture Agencies.
The Minister said that “Dancehall is quintessentially Jamaican and, in many respects, can be seen as the cradle of Jamaican music. The music evolved out of the sound systems of the 1960s and has now become a worldwide sensation. I, therefore, see Dancehall Week as an exciting addition to an already eclectic Reggae Month, with the potential to pull many visitors to our shores to partake of our captivating culture. The Festival Economy, of which this is a part, holds great potential to deliver massive economic gains to our people and to our country in general. It was, therefore, a very easy decision for us to align ourselves with Dancehall Week.”
Salmon made mention at the launch that though he has recently been appointed as Executive Director at the JCDC, he still retains oversight responsibility for Reggae Month and other national commemorative activities, and that the Minister asked him to work closely with the team to ensure that the impact of Dancehall Week is maximized and its potential realized.
The series of events will be produced by the recently incorporated company - Dancehall Lifestyle JM. However, the spokesperson for the group and one of its directors, Roxelle McKenzie, was quick to point out that though newly incorporated, the team behind the event has many years of experience in successfully producing events. Dancehall Week is slated to run from February 13 to 19, 2024."
