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The Creative Production and Training Centre (CPTC) and the Jamaica National Bicentenary Committee (JNBC) have endorsed the inaugural staging of Heroes’Reggae Splash, a festival celebrating Jamaican culture and arts as well as Jamaica’s musical and national heroes which will be held on Heroes’Weekend, October 13 -15 at Richmond Estate Recreation Park, Priory, St. Ann. “October is a very special month in the history of Jamaica. It is the month in which we pause to remember the heroes and heroines who contributed to the creation of modern Jamaican society. These heroes and heroines set us on our freedom journey by struggling against systems of domination. While Heritage Week honours the 7 declared icons, there are so many more in our history. Heroes’ Reggae Splash will help to uncover the unsung heroes and heroines, including enslaved ancestors who died along with Nanny and Sharpe in the cause of Jamaican freedom, and honour them.

The JNBC endorses this event and congratulates the organizers for reminding Jamaicans that ‘one hand alone cannot clap’; and that the contributions of our icons, declared and unsung, are worthy of recognition”, explained the JNBC’s chairperson, Professor Verene Shepherd. The notion of a Heroes’Reggae Splash on the weekend culminating in National Heroes’Day, whose purpose is to bring families together in celebration of our heroes through our culture, is one which CPTC enthusiastically endorses, said Angela Patterson, the organisation’s CEO. CPTC is rooted in Jamaica’s culture and the promotion and celebration of it. There is therefore a seamless fit between the two enterprises. We are glad that we are working together for this inaugural event and look forward to proudly displaying the work of CPTC in the cultural arena. Good luck to the organizers of the major undertaking and we hope to continue this relationship throughout future enactments.

JNBC has sponsored 20 tickets for primary and high school students, while CPTC has contributed a docudrama on the Maroons and the Maroon Wars, as well as past episodes of the long running tv programme, Hill An’Gully Ride, produced by Carey Robinson. These films will be shown on in the mini-cinema of the festival’s Heritage Village and will be followed by a panel discussion with Frank Lumsden, colonel of the Charles Town Maroons. Other films which will be shown are the docudrama on Peter Tosh’s life, Red X and Reggae Superjam 1983, Tosh’s last performance in Jamaica, courtesy of Wayne Jobson and Pulse CEO Kingsley Cooper, respectively who will sit on the ensuing panel discussion along with Herbie Miller and Dr. Clinton Hutton. A book store, music store and mini-museum are some of the other features of the Heritage Village, which is itself only one element of the multi-faceted festival. On Sunday and Monday, the park’s Blue Stage and Culture Village will be the site of a sizzling melting pot of cultural fare including Jamaican, Chinese and Indian cuisine, a continuous display of art and craft and performances from the Upstanding Mento Band from Port Antonio, Charles Town Maroon Drummers, Kumina and Jamaican folk songs with the Hatfield Cultural Group, Akwaaba Drummers, the Comedy Buss 2007 contestants as well as dub poets Steppa and Payne, the Kingston Drummers, Dinki Mini and Bruckins with the Manchioneal Cultural Group, Fab Five and Chalice. Nightly musical upliftment will flow from Professor Nuts, General Trees, Tarrus Riley, Rootz Underground and Frankie Paul on Saturday and on Sunday, Half Pint, Leroy Sibbles, Queen Ifrica and Richie Spice, with a special tribute to Peter Tosh featuring his son, Andrew Tosh and Bushman. There will be specialised activities for children including storytelling with Amina Blackwood-Meeks, kite-making, swimming in the beach cove and rides, games and other activities in the resident fun park, dubbed the Pickney Village. — Festival Line: (876)-942-9095 Web: www.heroesreggaesplash.com Myspace: www.myspace.com/heroesreggaesplash