Kingston, 29 July 2021 – The Jamaica National Heritage Trust will host a virtual Seville Emancipation Jubilee celebration on July 31 in keeping with the measures implemented to fight the spread of covid-19 in Jamaica.

The annual Emancipation Jubilee is a major national celebration, usually held at the Seville Heritage Park in St Ann and is a tribute to the African ancestors, their contribution towards the free society that Jamaicans enjoy and a celebration of the end of slavery in Jamaica.

This year marks 183 years since full freedom for enslaved people took effect on August 1, 1838. The virtual Seville Emancipation Jubilee will be held under the theme “Spirit Inna We” and will feature drama, traditional songs and dance.  It will also feature a re-enactment of the reading of the Emancipation proclamation.

The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, said it is “extremely important to honour the ancestors and mark the end of slavery, even during the covid pandemic.”

According to Minister Grange, “Come what may, we must pay homage to the many men and women, boys and girls whose blood was shed; and who gave their lives to purchase our freedom.  We owe them a tremendous debt.  We must honour them by ensuring that we do all we can to complete their work by becoming the great people, nation and country that we were meant to be and to pursue reparations in their names.”

reparations in their names.”

The virtual celebration will be broadcast on national television and social media on the following dates:

  • PBCJ – Saturday, July 31 @ 9p.m. and rebroadcast on Sunday August 1st at 12 noon and Monday August 2nd at 10 a.m.
  • TVJ – Monday August 2 @ 1:05 p.m.
  • Facebook pages – Hibbert House; Hon Olivia “Babsy” Grange; Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and Jam Vision 
  • YouTube – Jamaica National Heritage Trust 

The programme will feature Amina Blackwood Meeks, Ngozi Wright, Tafari Wright, Andrew Brodber, Ramario Thomas, Shoshana Dyer, Shavon Campbell, Sista Patt, Kukudoo and others.

Emancipation Jubilee is a production of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.