The 2020 National Honours and Awards ceremony, to be held on National Heroes Day, Monday (October 19), will take place in a virtual format.

The

made-for-television event will be aired on national television and social media

platforms beginning at 8:15 a.m. with a floral tribute from National Heroes

Park.

Minister of

Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, who has oversight for

national commemorative events, said that the decision to move to a virtual

ceremony was necessary as the Government works to prevent further spread of the

coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The produced

package will feature a congratulatory message by Governor-General, the Most Hon

Sir Patrick Allen, and the presentation will be interspersed with performances

by well-known Jamaican artistes.

Professor

Orlando Patterson, who heads the list of honourees this year, will deliver

remarks on behalf of the award recipients.

Patterson

will receive the Order of Merit (OM) for his highly distinguished international

contribution to Academia, West Indian Literature, Sociology and the

Epistemology of Social Culture.

A total of

126 persons, excluding the uniformed groups, will receive this year’s National

Honours and Awards.