THE inaugural Westmoreland Home Coming celebrations planned for July 28 to August 3 is expected to cost approximately $9 million and attract an estimated 50,000 patrons.

According to the organisers, the main thrust of the programme is to showcase the areas of growth and development in the parish, with special emphasis on community and eco-tourism.

Two years ago, director of Klassic Entertainment and Tours, Artherine Lee, decided to pattern Westmoreland’s Home-Coming celebrations off the one that has been in place for St. Elizabeth for several years now.

Lee first sat down to plan the activities for the parish with a group of four. Today, the committee has grown to 20 members with stakeholders from a wide cross-section of the parish. And they plan to make the event an annual one.

The committee decided that this year’s week of activities will begin with a church service and civic reception at the Westmoreland Parish Church on Sunday July 28 at 3:00 pm, followed by a cocktail launch at Orchard Great House.

The following day there will be an educational exposition which will take the form of a symposium on law and justice and the rights of citizens. There will also be a past students reunion at the Llandilo Cultural Centre in the form of an old school’s party, during which patrons are expected to wear their old school uniforms.

On Tuesday July 30, there will be environmental awareness day at the Grange Hill Community Centre where environmental groups will be the main promoters and presenters. The next day’s activities will kick off with tourism awareness day at Culloden Heart NTA — an event that is being promoted by the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Tourism Product Development Company.

That same evening, there will be an awards banquet during which Westmoreland residents who have made a significant contribution to nation building will be recognised. The guest speaker at the banquet will be Guyana’s president, Bharrat Jagdeo.

Then all roads will lead to the Llandilo Cultural Centre on August 1 for the observance of community and cultural awareness day, under the theme “Out of many, one Westmoreland”. This will be followed by a street dance at Norman Square on Great Georges Street. The following day the Llandilo Cultural Centre will again take centre stage with the holding of a health fair, manufacturing and trade expo and food festival. This will precede a gospel concert at Mannings High School and an old hits party at Beautiful Acres in Friendship. Both events will begin at 8:00 pm.

The grand finale to the week-long celebrations will be the float parade. Community groups will march from different points and meet at Norman Square where the float will then head for Alfred’s Ocean Palace in Negril. At that venue, there will be a grand “Level the vibes beach/soca party”.