KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) will host its annual New Year’s Eve Fireworks Festival on December 31, under the theme ‘Life, Love and Harmony’, as Jamaica bids farewell to 2024 and welcomes 2025.

The festival is scheduled for the Kingston Waterfront, Ocho Rios Bay Beach in St Ann, and the latest addition to the list of locations – Harmony Beach Park in Montego Bay, St James, beginning 12 noon.

General Manager of the UDC, Robert Honeyghan, told JIS News that ease of access for all Jamaicans is a key feature of the festival’s staging this year.

“By doing it in those three specific locations, what you end up with is that the average Jamaican is never really more than an hour away from a major fireworks event in the country. That improves accessibility and makes it convenient for families to access [this spectacle] wherever they are,” he pointed out.

Honeyghan said the decades-old festival promises to be fun for the entire family, with a craft village, kiddies play area with various rides, and a slate of other activities, including a street party and stage show later in the night featuring a line-up of musical acts.

“Fireworks Festival 2024, of course, is going to be bigger and better than Fireworks Festival 2023, and all the years before. The importance of the Fireworks Festival to the Jamaican experience goes back many years… quite a few decades. It’s a family fun day. It’s not a night-time event only; it starts in the day. The whole show is geared towards family-friendly entertainment,” he explained.

Honeyghan credited the festival’s endurance to its significance as a tradition for generations of Jamaicans, as well as an economic opportunity for local small businesses.

“It’s a major part of what Jamaicans look forward to. Our remit in communities across Jamaica spans everything from, of course, the improvement of the physical infrastructure, but also enabling businesses and business owners. Many of the parks that we operate and run across the UDC have a small-business component. Small-business people can take advantage of opportunities there,” Honeyghan pointed out.

All three festival locations will have secure parking facilities for use by attendees. In Ocho Rios, general parking will be provided at the Ocean Village Shopping Centre, with additional arrangements at the Buckfield Playfield, Shaw Park and Turtle River Park.

In Montego Bay, parking will be available at facilities opposite Harmony Beach Park, as well as at Mount Alvernia High School and Cornwall College.

For the event at the waterfront in downtown Kingston, parking will be facilitated at the Craft Market carpark, Harbour Street carpark, West Street carpark, Temple Lane carpark and the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) carpark. A ‘park-and-ride’ shuttle service will also be available.

“You [will] have the [opportunity] to park at National Heroes Park, ride the bus down to the waterfront, enjoy the festivities and get on the bus and ride back to the Park,” Honeyghan informed.

The UDC Fireworks Festival is being held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation in partnership with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF); Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF); Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ); National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA); National Works Agency (NWA); Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund; National Housing Trust (NHT); Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC); GraceKennedy Group; Digicel; PanJam Group; Worthy Park Estate, and the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS).

“Our sponsors really came on board in a big way, and they’re enabling the full society to have the exclusive and inclusive experience that the Fireworks Festival brings. There’s nothing more gratifying in my mind and more enjoyable for us than to really observe the Fireworks Festival because it brings together Jamaicans across all generations, across all backgrounds, every walk of life,” Honeyghan said.

-JIS