For Jamaicans living across the U.S., anticipation is building as the island nation’s 46th anniversary of independence nears.
Among the events planned in New York are the annual Grand Independence Ball on August 16 at the New York Hilton Hotel and Towers, 1335 Sixth Avenue (at 53rd Street) and an art exhibit at the Jamaican Consulate.
Across America, festivals promoting food, music and culture will mark the anniversary, which is officially August 6.
At the independence ball in New York, Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s minister of tourism, will be the keynote speaker and entertainer Richie Stephens is due to perform, according to Geneive Brown Metzger, Jamaica’s consul general to New York, and Michele Rollins, chairwoman of the Jamaica
Independence Anniversary Committee
The art exhibit, featuring paintings, drawings and sculptures of painter Michael Escoffery and sculptor Gene Pearson will be on display at the Jamaican Consulate, 767 Third Avenue, through Friday.
Among other local events scheduled are a Thanksgiving church service next Sunday, August 10 at North Bronx Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 3743 Bronxwood Avenue, at 4 p.m.; a flag raising ceremony on Thursday, August 7 at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street at 2 p.m.; and a youth symposium at the consulate Saturday, August 9 at 11 a.m.
For ball tickets and information on independence events, call the Jamaica Independence Anniversary Committee at 212-935-9000, Ext. 32.
Courting a few great ladies
The popular Caribbean furniture chain Courts Caribbean will be touting its trademark yellow, red and blue colors at this year’s West Indian American Day Carnival Parade in Brooklyn and is looking for a few great women to help promote its business.
On September 1, Courts Caribbean will lead the Borokeete USA mas band along the Eastern Parkway parade route before millions of spectators.
Female revelers interested in wearing Courts carnival costumes and promoting the furniture company should send an e-mail and a photo to marketing@caribpr.com.
The company currently operates 87 stores in 11 Caribbean countries.
Take in a play by Farrier
The 2008 Guyana Folk Festival - which began in June under the theme “Caribbean People in Harmony through Culture” - will present playwright Francis Quamina Farrier’s work “What You Don’t Know Could Kill You” Saturday and next Sunday, August 9 and 10.
The play will be performed 6 p.m. both days at Intermediate School 285 - the Meyer Levin Performing Arts School, 5909 Beverly Road near Ralph Avenue, Brooklyn. The cast includes Claude Leandro, Juliet Emanuel, Verna Walcott-White, Hilton Hemerding, Cyril Brown, and George Dahari.
Farrier’s play examines the life of a single woman, her quest for motherhood, her pursuit of a career and the lengths she will go to in order to attain them. The Brooklyn staging is produced and directed by actor Maurice Braithwaite. Admission is $20.
The festival - presented by the Guyana Cultural Association - continues on Friday, August 29 with the “Come to My Kwe-Kwe Night” celebration at Restoration Plaza, at 1360 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Brides are invited to enter the Kwe-Kwe Honeymoon contest. Admission is $20.
The Folk Festival Family Fun Day will be held August 31 at I.S. 285 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Musical performers, arts and crafts, Guyanese food and folk games will be featured. Admission is $10 for adults.
In Guyana, the association will host cultural events and a symposium leading up to the Carifesta X - the big Caribbean cultural event there - August 22 through 31.
For information call, Claire Goring at 718-209-5207 or visit www.guyfolkfest.org.
Fun for the kids
Father Goose, the Jamaican dance hall performer who gained fame with thousands of children as a member of the fun-loving Dan Zanes and Friends band, will perform Saturday in Manhattan at the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 35th annual Street Festival.
The warm-hearted entertainer will perform at the festival, along West 152nd Street, between Amsterdam and St. Nicholas Avenues, from 2 and 5 p.m.
He garnered fame in dance hall reggae circles as “Rankin Don” and has performed with Dan Zanes and Friends since 2000.
Late last year, Father Goose released “It’s a Bam Bam Diddly!” a children’s CD on Festival Five Records. For more on Father Goose, visit www.fathergoose.net.
For information on the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s street festival, visit www.dancetheatreofharlem.org/events.html.
View Haitian artists
The works of Haitian artists Jocelyne Telson and Raphael Denis are currently featured at Emma’s Gallery in Brooklyn from 4 to 8 p.m. The gallery is located at 579 Lenox Road between East 42nd Street and Albany Avenue. Call 718-604-1765 for information on the show and artists.
Olympic dreams
“Team Jamaica Bickle: On the Road to Beijing,” a BET J cable television special about the New York nonprofit organization‘s efforts to highlight Jamaica’s top-ranked track and field athletes competing at the 2008 Summer Olympics, will air at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday.
This column is reprinted from the August 3 Sunday editions of The New York Daily News. If you have any items suitable for this column please e-mail them to jmccallister@nydailynews.com.
