The Jamaica Festival Song Competition Is Officially Back On

The Jamaica 60 Festival Song Competition will be held this year, as decided by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport. The Jamaica Festival Song Competition panel was unable to determine ten suitable songs from the 123 entries. Therefore earlier in the year it was decided that due to a lack of quality entries, the JCDC Festival Song Competition would be canceled for 2022. This didn’t set well with many Jamaicans, and caused a huge backlash from Jamaicans around the globe and on the island.

After time has now passed, the panel along with the (Minister of Culture, Gender, Entetrtainment, and Sports) have decided the competition will be reinstated.

Now, entries were once again be accepted from June 14 through June 21 to choose seven new songs. These will be in addition to the three that the selection panel already chose from the first 123 entries.

On July 28, the competition’s finals will feature the 10 finalists competing for the national championship.

During the Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference’s opening ceremony in June at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade headquarters in downtown Kingston, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, revealed the information.

“I have been networking with the [entertainment] industry to get good producers, songwriters, and performers on board, so we can come up with 10 songs,” she said.

She noted that the competition is in addition to the Jamaica 60 commemorative album, which will feature artistes such as Shaggy, Freddy McGregor, Koffee and Marcia Griffiths.

“So, I just want to say to the diaspora and to Jamaicans here at home that we will have a festival song competition, and we will have quality entries,” she emphasized.

The Jamaica Festival Song Competition, which has been operating since 1966, is now the longest-running original song competition on the island. The Competition, which strives to find a brand-new, original song that captures the essence of the Jamaican people, has evolved into a platform for young musicians, composers, and producers to display their talents.