‘Fun in the Son’ gets community support

Residents of Allman Town and the surrounding communities have stated their commitment to supporting Best Dressed Fun in the Son (BDFITS) to be held at the nearby National Heroes Park on July 16, promising to ensure that the tens of thousands of patrons expected will be safe.

Their response came at a community sensitisation meeting organised by the BDFITS planning committee at the St Matthew’s Church Hall, Allman Town, recently.

Community organiser Marcia Vidal, welcomed the BDFITS team and explained that with several “chains broken” in the lives of residents, there was now unity in the area.

She said residents were determined to do everything possible to ensure another successful staging of the gospel festival, as it was their desire that the National Heroes Park become its permanent home.

Festival director Richard Sadler unveiled the event layout of the National Heroes Park, which will include a children’s village, sports village, extreme sports zone, a tour of the National Cemetery at the heritage site, a food court, and the grand concert stage. He said members of the Allman Town community would be given priority in the registration for vendors’ booths, which will be fewer this year due to site conditions.

Dr Claudette Cooke, vice-president, Human Resource Development and Public Relations, Jamaica Broilers Group said the event has become the largest single gathering of its kind in the Caribbean, which is free to the public.

“I am pleased that, over the past 12 years, the event has been incident free and the lives of thousands of patrons had been transformed. This is a family event where parents can send their children to have a good time, knowing that they will be safe, and women do not have to be in fear,” she said.

Tommy Cowan, Chief executive officer of Glory Music and conceptualiser of the event, said final negotiations were taking place with a popular international gospel star to headline the show, details of which will be announced later.