A TOTAL of 21 entertainment personalities are to be honoured by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) at its awards ceremony at the close of Reggae Month.

The event is set for the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston on February 28. The list of recipients is headed by Vincent and Pat Chin, owners of VP Records and who ran Randy’s Record Shop.

The Chins are to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. February is Reggae Month and the awards ceremony is the premier event among a plethora of functions which will be held to celebrate the contribution of reggae music to the world.

According to JaRIA’s executive director Charles Campbell, the awardees represent groups and individuals who have made a significant contribution to the reggae industry and have been in the business for more than 10 years.

“We have a broad-based awards committee within JaRIA composed of members from various sectors of the Jamaican entertainment industry.

Each year submissions and nominations are put to this committee and voting is done by secret ballot. The nominees who don’t win are short-listed for the following year to ensure continuity,” he explained.

Posthumous awards will be given to reggae veterans John Holt and Hopeton Lewis, both of whom died in 2014, in recognition of their invaluable contribution to the growth of Jamaica’s popular music.

Other awards will be presented to Major Joe Williams for mentorship; producers Lloyd ‘King Jammys’ James and Winston ‘Niney’ Holness; and engineers Karl Pitterson and Overton ‘Scientist’ Brown. Sound systems Downbeat The Ruler and Youthman Promotion also made this year’s cut.

Singers and players of instruments are also on the list of awardees this year. Mikey ‘Boo’ Richards, Errol ‘Flabba’ Holt, Ernie Smith, Millie Small, The Gaylads, Inner Circle, Cleve ‘Stitchie’ Laing and Tyrone ‘Papa San’ Thompson will be recognised at the event.

Reggae-loving radio jock David Rodigan, who is now at BBC Radio 1Xtra, and songwriter BB Seaton round out this year’s list of awardees.

Meanwhile, Campbell is pleased with plans for this year’s staging of Reggae Month. He spoke with pride at the efforts to establish a permanent home for the month of activities. “Plans are going very well.

We are preparing to launch in two weeks the 29 events over 28 days. We are proud of the Reggae Village, which will be set up at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre from February 1-28, so the events will all be held at one venue.

Our line-up for the various events are confirmed so right now we are just tweaking a little here and there,” said Campbell.