Entries for JCDC creative competitions to open April 29
ENTRIES FOR the 2021 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) competition cycle will open on Thursday, April 29.
The competitions, which are scheduled to begin accepting entries are the Festival of the Performing Arts in the subject areas of dance, drama and 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,” Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the JCDC, Andrew Clunis, stated.
He explained that 2021 has been dubbed the ‘Year of the Soloist’ by the JCDC, as the commission will only be accepting entries of solo performers across the competitions. Clunis said that this in support of the national social-distancing protocols caused by the pandemic.
He further stated that all entries for the JCDC competitions will be accepted through an online platform, which will also be launched on April 29.
“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 COVID19-related changes,” Clunis said.