The Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment Desk continues with the seventh of its biweekly feature looking at seminal moments that have helped shape Jamaica over the past 60 years.

JAMAICA’S Independence celebrations and the annual staging of the festival of the arts events have become synonymous.

Each year thousands of Jamaicans are involved in the myriad of events organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) to celebrate the island’s rich and diverse cultural history.

Established in 1963, the JCDC was originally known as the Festival Office of Jamaica. In 1968, it evolved into the Festival Commission, a burgeoning force for cultural development on behalf of the Government. The Act of Parliament in September, Act 32 of 1968, broadened its mandate to encourage the annual Independence Anniversary Celebrations throughout the island, as well as to stimulate the development of local talents. In May of 1980, the commission’s mandate was extended by another Act of Parliament and with this, its name was changed to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. The year 1980 represented a paradigm shift in the agency’s functions and responsibilities.

Former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who was minister of development and welfare, was at the forefront of the move to establish and organise this annual festival celebrations.

For Seaga, the festival was considered integral to national development as a way of giving Jamaicans a sense of who they are, and what their history and culture is all about.

Seaga invited a young and vibrant Hugh Nash to develop a proposal to ensure that Jamaica’s culture would play an integral role in the upliftment of the lives of all citizens, whether at home or abroad. That was the beginning of what would help to grow and shape what are now staple events on Jamaica’s annual Independence calendar.

Nash died in July 2021 after more than 50 years dedicated to the development of local arts and culture and earned the name “Mr Festival”.

In an interview with the Jamaica Information Service, Nash said his efforts were aimed at ensuring that the JCDC was not a seasonal agency.

“It picked up all the performing arts — music, speech, drama, dance, the visual and other art forms and used the preparation towards the Independence anniversary celebrations as a period of training throughout the parishes and then moulding that into the festivities of Independence. The whole initial aim was to make our people conscious about the importance of Independence and, at the same time, use the JCDC as a training and development outfit in the whole area of our culture,” he outlined.

Today, in addition to the festival of the the arts, the JCDC organises other signature events which form part of the annual Independence celebrations. Among the events are the Festival Song Competition, Gospel Song Competition, Culinary Arts competition, The Festival Queen Competition, and the national Grand Gala.