MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The Manchester Family Festival, which is projected to be a “diverse culinary, cultural and musical experience”, will be held at the Kirkvine Sports Complex here on Easter Monday.

The event is happening for the first time and was conceptualised by Cheryl Thompson and Derrick Smith, who both claim ties to the parish.

Thompson said that a key goal of the festival is to create social change by helping to restore family values.

“We started with a different name for this event and we changed the name to Manchester Family Festival. The more we worked with the name, the more we felt convinced that there was a purpose to this and that the timing was right. The family is definitely under attack in Jamaica and elsewhere. I hope this event will be a catalyst for change,” she told the audience at the launch ceremony.

Event Specialist Onome Sido said that the activities for the day will reflect that the entire family is taken into consideration.

“The venue will come alive with one of the largest Kiddies’ Villages to accommodate our young patrons. In addition we (will) have several food booths with mouth-watering cuisine for every palate. We can’t exclude the football aficionados who will be treated to a six-a-side football match with lots of prizes and giveaways. domino and ludo tables, as well as cards will be available for patrons who just want to relax and play a friendly game. Because it is a family event we have carefully selected our artistes,” she said.

Organisers said that part of the proceeds from the event would go towards the development of the Shiloh Kindergarten and Lloyd French Early Childhood Institution in Kendal.

Thompson indicated that there are also plans to provide support to adult education in future.

Community Tourism Consultant and guest speaker at the launch, Diana McIntyre-Pike, offered organisers complimentary partner life membership to the Countrystyle Community Tourism Network that she operates.

— Alicia Sutherland