Prospective entrants in the Festival of the Performing Arts 2010 have until 4:30pm today to submit entries to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

The Commission began accepting entries for its competitions in music, drama, speech traditional folk forms and dance in December last year, for what promises to be the largest performing arts spectacle for 2010. Entries will also close today for the National Children’s Gospel Competition set for March this year.

Applications for the Jamaica Gospel Song, Jamaica Festival Song and the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen competition will be accepted until Friday, February 26, while the deadlines for other programmes including the Culinary Arts, Visual Arts and Creative Writing competitions will be announced at a later date.

“Our competitions are open to all Jamaicans,” says public relations coordinator, Danielle Hopkins. “We are currently in the process of expanding the scope of our programmes in order to facilitate wider participation,”she added.

A special appeal is being made to individuals and community groups to participate in the festival, which has been primarily dominated by schools over the years.

Completed entry forms along with the relevant application fees should be taken to any JCDC parish office or to the Head Office located at 3-5 Phoenix Avenue in Kingston. Interested persons may log on to www.jcdc.org.jm to access entry forms and rules for the various competitions.