Two of the most familiar faces on the South Florida party scene, Marco Brown and Tyrone Robertson have promoted many shows there as business partners or individually. On August 3, they were recognised for contributing to Jamaican culture in that region.

Brown and Robertson received the One Love Award from Oliver Mair, Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami during the Jamaica 62nd Independence Celebration event at Truck Stop in the city of Weston.

The Clarendon-born Brown, who lived in Canada for many years before moving to South Florida, has promoted popular events like Sundays By The Bay in Miami and Pluto And Friends in Hallandale. He is pleased with the recognition.

“I’m very appreciative of this award and the fact that we are being recognised for our contribution to the community. The entertainment scene (in South Florida) has changed big time as you now have new players contributing in a very positive and progressive way, plus the technology now is night and day compared to previous times,” he said.

Robertson, who is from Kingston, operates three entertainment-based companies including Bassline Production Group which is involved in events such as the Atlanta Caribbean Jerk Festival. He and Brown also worked on Pluto And Friends featuring singer Pluto Shervington at Gulfstream Racetrack.

“It is nice to be recognised for the work we do, very few people really understand how much it takes to produce quality and long-lasting events. The scene has grown exponentially… We (Jamaicans) used to have very few options for Jamaican entertainment. Today, we have so many options as many have entered the business. The competition is fierce, which helps the quality of events,” he said.

The Jamaica 62nd Independence Celebration was one of many events in South Florida marking Jamaica’s Independence Day which took place three days later.