Thousands turned out for Heritage Expo
November 04, 2008
Thousands of students and teachers from across Jamaica turned out for the annual Heritage Expo at Seville Heritage Park, in St. Ann on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.
The expo which was celebrated under the theme 'Out of Many One - The Story of The Jamaican People,' saw colourful displays on various cultural groups in the society. Glenmuir High School featured a display on the Indian culture, wowing visitors to their tent with their colourful saris and different pieces of jewellery. The students also performed Indian dances on stage to loud applause from the thousands of students.
Priory Primary and Junior High and St. Ann's Bay Primary both featured the Chinese culture. Everything from imported baby diapers to plastic kites made in China was on display in these exhibitions. There was also historical information on the Chinese in Jamaica. Columbus Preparatory, named after Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus, appropriately staged an exhibition on the Spaniards.
The eventual winner of the exhibition competition was Ocho Rios Primary and Junior High whose colourful and creative display featured the African culture. There were also displays from the South African High Commission as well as an exhibition of animals from the Hope Zoo. The mini zoo was a magnet for hundreds of children eager to touch the snakes and view the baby iguana, turtles and parrots on display.
Also popular was the art and craft segment where children drew pictures of national emblems and decorated them. They also played Chinese skipping, dandy shandy and other popular games.
The expo seeks to promote Jamaica's heritage through exhibitions, speech, drumming, music and dance. There were gold medal winning performances from groups such as Ascot High, Rousseau Primary, Glenmuir High, Servite Primary. The highlight for most of the youngsters however was the high energy performance of Dance Expressions who mesmerized everyone with their slick moves as they featured the evolution of Jamaican dance through the years.
Heritage Expo 2008 was held on a heritage site that celebrates hundreds of years of Jamaica's heritage. Seville Heritage Park has a museum/heritage education centre where there is a wide array of artifacts and ruins representing an accurate and comprehensive report of our Amerindian, European and African fore-parents, their individual cultures and how these cultures interacted. It is operated by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.
For further information contact:
Andrea Braham
922-1287/8, 922-3990
