BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Leaders here say this year’s staging of Black River Day will be a significant part of showcasing commerce and tourism returning to the heritage rich south-central town.

President of St Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce Kadian Myers-Brown said Black River Day will have its 10th staging on July 26.

“The theme for this year’s staging indicates building commerce through tourism resilience, culture, food, and entertainment, not only focuses on our main efforts on commerce, but we want, on the other hand, our reach to impact other important areas that serve as a driver for commerce. Hence, tourism, culture, food, entertainment, and I will even add education,” said Myers-Brown at the launch of the day last Friday.

She told the audience of business, political and security leaders that Black River Day is a national event.

“It is a day where we celebrate Black River and, by extension, Jamaica leading into the Emancipation/Independence period,” she said.

“It is on this premise and the significance that this festival brings to the south coast that our Minister of Culture [Olivia Grange] saw it fitting to declare Black River Day, since 2022, a national event listed among the nation’s celebrations for independent Jamaica,” added Myers-Brown.

She commended business owners for continuing to invest in Black River.

“They took a leap of faith to dedicate themselves to the growth and development of the parish capital. We encourage all our sponsors and supporters to join us for Black River to celebrate the tenth staging. We will have a business village where there will be a showcase of cultural displays,” she explained.

Myers-Brown said a cultural band, Maroon entertainment, stilt walkers, and jonkonnu will be among the cultural displays.

“We will also have a food court, a float parade, a kiddies village, and entertainment to go until 2:00 am the following day. We will also have a free health fair, which is a collaborative effort among all the pharmacies in Black River,” she said.

Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western and Cabinet Minister Floyd Green reiterated his vision for the rebirth of Black River.

“When I became Member of Parliament one of the things I had to look at is what can the Government do to try and drive the rebirth of Black River. Clearly the chamber had embarked on Black River Day, and we were bringing a lot of people down here. The Government needed to invest more to ensure that Black River fulfils its potential as a cultural mecca,” said Green.

“We started that process with some story boards across the town, just to tell the wonderful story of Black River… We did our first streetscape right outside of the parish church to give a good feel and upliftment for the town. We have now done murals with augmented reality,” he said, pointing to the use of QR codes for visitors to scan with their smartphones.

“When you scan the mural it comes to life telling you the story of Black River from our Logwood Trade, the Zong (massacre), everything about our history that has made us into who we are,” added Green.

Head of the St Elizabeth police Superintendent Coleridge Minto commended the organisers of the event.

“It is a celebration of our rich history, vibrant culture and the enduring spirit of our community. This year’s theme encapsulates our commitment to fostering economic growth and community prosperity through our unique local assets,” said Minto as he promised that the police will continue to support the annual event.

“Last year’s event was incident-free, and I look forward to that again this year. We commit to ensuring the safety and security of all persons who will be attending this event, and as such we will ensure adequate persons are deployed to manage crowd control.

“Follow the instructions of the police. Park in designated areas. Do not leave valuables inside your vehicles. In fact, we prefer if you leave them at home and that there is proper supervision of your children,” added Minto.