Kingston, 9 December 2019 – The Minister of the Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, and the Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Edmund Bartlett, have launched Reggae Month 2020 to be celebrated under the theme ‘Come ketch de riddim.’

Since 2008, the month of February has been recognised annually in Jamaica as Reggae Month.

“We deliberately decided to launch before Christmas,” said Minister Grange who declared that Reggae Month 2020 would be “the best ever.”

“We are determined to produce a world-class and exciting package for Reggae Month 2020,” said Minister Grange whose Ministry and its agencies are organising Reggae Month celebrations jointly with the Ministry of Tourism and its agencies.

Minister Bartlett said “we want to invest more in Reggae Month and so the Ministry of Tourism along with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport will put serious funding into Reggae Month from next year onwards.”

Reggae Month usually features a series of live entertainment activities across the island for the entire month of February. However for 2020, celebratory activities will be held in the Diaspora, as well.

“We are partnering with Miramar in Florida,” said Minister Grange, adding that “we have worked out a series of activities that we will do in Florida and we will have exchanges during the month of February between Miramar and Kingston.”

The Vice Mayor of Miramar, Alexandra Davis, said the city was looking forward to including Reggae Month celebrations into the Black History Month commemoration.

The Vice Mayor said Miramar was well placed to lead Reggae Month celebrations in the Jamaican Diaspora as several Reggae icons reside in the city “where all five of the elected officials that run the city are of Jamaican descent or were born in Jamaica, so Reggae is very close to our hearts.”

The Reggae Month Secretariat has also forged a strategic partnership with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association under which hotels will offer special rates on accommodation for Regge Month.

Both Ministers Grange and Bartlett have invited Jamaicans in the Diaspora and the peoples of the world to come to Jamaica during Reggae Month 2020 and enjoy our infectious rhythm.

END

Kingston 23 January 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has welcomed the announcement of the Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Edmund Bartlett, that his Ministry is providing J$25 million towards the further development of the Jamaica Music Museum, also referred to as the Reggae Museum.

The Jamaica Music Museum, which was launched by Minister Grange and brought into operation in 2009, is a division of the Institute of Jamaica — an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.

Minister Grange said the support of the Ministry of Tourism will fast track the development of the Jamaica Music Museum which is “now housed in the corridors of the Institute of Jamaica”. 

Minister Grange said:

“The inscription of the Reggae Music of Jamaica to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list makes it even more urgent for us to intensify our work on the Jamaica Music Museum as a major resource in promoting and preserving our music, and this support from Minister Bartlett will go a far way in helping us to establish, in a short period of time, a museum befitting Reggae’s global status.  This is a great example of Ministers, Ministries and Agencies working together for the benefit of the people of Jamaica.  It goes to show that when you put us [Minister Bartlett and I] together, nobody can beat us.”

Minister Bartlett said support for the further development of the Jamaica Music Museum will be provided through the Tourism Enhancement Fund.  He said the sum of J$25 million has been set aside for the further “scoping, design and the development of the concept of a physical museum… then you give us the budget for what is required for the rest of it.”

Minister Bartlett explained that the investment in the Jamaica Music Museum is part of a broader strategy to develop the Reggae product.  The strategy includes investment in the development of trails to sites that are significant in the history of the music and the use of Reggae in a new advertising campaign for the Jamaica Tourist Board.

Ministers Grange and Bartlett were speaking at the launch of Reggae Month 2019 on Sunday.

Reggae Month, celebrated annually in February, is being organised jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and the Ministry of Tourism.