Come February 2024, Jamaica will be celebrating an official ‘Dancehall Week’ to celebrate the genre.

The week, which kicks off on Tuesday February 13, 2024 will culminate on February 19, 2024 following a week filled with activities that are being endorsed by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports and Ministry of Tourism.

“On Tuesday we’ll have ‘Fashion Roadblock’ where you dress up in your boujee dancehall wear and you come out…we’ll be on the road having some fun. On the Wednesday, which is Ash Wednesday, we start it with ‘Morning Bliss’ which is a red and white Valentine’s Day event. On the 15th, which is the Thursday, we leave that slot open for promoters—we’re still inviting promoters to come on board,” Roxelle “Glamm” McKenzie, co-director of Dancehall Lifestyle—conceptualisers of the initiative— told Observer Online at the media launch at the Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston on Wednesday.

She added, “On Friday, we’ll have our ‘Old School Graduation’ uniform style and then on the Saturday, we cool things down a bit before our Street Parade [on Sunday] with our dancehall sound clash. Sunday is our major event with our street parade where our costumes from local designers will be on the road…On the Monday, we fully cool things down with our ‘Yacht Chill’ and we go all the way out to Maiden Cay.”

It was announced that the Culture and Entertainment Ministry vetted the introduction of Dancehall Week in Reggae Month to celebrate both genres equally.