ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica—In recent years, several events have been held on a regular basis in the parish of St Elizabeth.

Aside from the annual Calabash event, there was the recent inaugural staging of BLK Festival headlined by Masicka, and coming up over the Heroes holiday weekend, popular soca series I Love Soca will invade the bread basket parish.

The popular Sandz party series is also heading to the parish.

According to Floyd Green, member of parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, an entertainment culture exists within the parish.

“It has always been a part of my vision to look at the assets that St Elizabeth has and to use those assets to drive the economy. Black River (the capital) has a great history – a lot of tourism sites that a lot of people don’t recognise that are in close proximity to each other. We have an entertainment culture in St Elizabeth,” Green told Observer Online in an interview at the launch of the Jamaica Food and Drink Festival at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel last Friday.

Said Green, who is also the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, “Now, what people are seeing is the snowball effect, and it’s really catching momentum. So Heroes Weekend, we have I Love Soca, Sandz is also coming, and we have been having so many major events. In November, there is the Food, Rum and Reggae Festival, and you’re going to see more of this.”

According to Green, entertainment provides opportunities to several people and contributes to the country’s gross domestic product.

“Events life everybody. The people who set up the barriers at the events, the people who work in the bar, the people who supply the drinks, the jerk chicken man, the people who do hair and eyelashes, all these people do well when these events take place,” Green reasoned.

He cited Independence Park as well as the entire stretch of beaches in Black River as venues for the hosting of events within the parish.

“I want to see more family-type events. Funfest, I would love to see a Funfest being held in St Elizabeth,” said Green.