THE winner and the top two runners-up in this year’s popular festival song contest will be making their first out-of-competition appearance at the Ocho Rios Seafood Festival, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) has announced.

According to Grace Silvera, the agency’s executive director, the Ocho Rios Seafood Festival “is a natural fit” for the festival winners to showcase their talents, promising that fans would be in for a real treat from “some extraordinarily talented performers”.

“This is a great demonstration of private and public sector partnership toward the advancement of the country’s cultural development. The Ocho Rios Seafood Festival has provided a platform for the JCDC to showcase the talents we have,” she said.

The event is slated for Sunday, August 1, at the Urban Development Corporation’s (UDC) Turtle River Park in Ocho Rios.

“Our goal this year is to come bigger and better,” explained Camille Miller, marketing manager for the festival.

Artistes who will be performing include Busy Signal, I-Octane, Mr Vegas, D’ Angel, Dada, Hero, Determine, Captain Barkey and Wickerman, Jimmy Riley, Prezident Brown, Junior Cat, PZ, Chuckle Berry, Ken Boothe, Kontractor, Toya, Baby Chris, Mikeylous, Viper and Food Kartel.

Gates open at 10 am.