The Importance Of Jamaica's Carnival

1153 Words3 Pages

The time-honoured ritual of mas’, music, pan and revelry which constitutes the celebration of culture that is the Trinidad Carnival, is one such event which has spawned a large number of overseas Carnivals, inclusive of the Jamaican carnival (Brown, 2005). Carnival in Jamaica began on a smaller scale in the year 1988 and was pioneered by Byron Lee. His whole idea was to create an event based mainly from his experiences at the well-known Trinidad Carnival; and over the years many efforts were made to introduce new dynamics to the annual event. However, though many tried to effectively promote Carnival in Jamaica and despite its longevity, Jamaica’s carnival has in successive years seen a decline in the number of patrons (Akil, 2012).Jamaica …show more content…

This can become a source or a part of a thriving sector of the economy, and a shift from normal Caribbean tourism attractions of sun, sea and sand, Celestine (2013). Carnival obviously has the potential to attract tourists, as it does, especially in the case of Trinidad's world-famous celebrations as music-based events are a popular form of entertainment (Quinnan, 2013).However,the popularity of the Jamaica Carnival has been compromised, and Jamaica’s Carnival needs continual renewal and revitalization of its offerings(Brown, 2005). Scher (2011) posed that Jamaica is a prime tourist destination for people all over the world and the Bacchanal season which begins in January and ends the weekend after Easter, with all its offerings may be deemed as resourceful and become a marketing force for attracting tourist to the island; specifically with the aim of attracting diasporic tourists to this …show more content…

The festival has the potential to eclipse the Trinidad experience. However the possibilities of carnival have yet been grasped; and regardless of the fact that carnival in Jamaica is within its 27th year since inception, not many tourists patronize this particular event. Therefore, the need now arises to analyze the repositioning of Jamaica’s carnival as a major diasporic event.
1.3 Purpose of Study
As a consequence of the issues surrounding Jamaica’s carnival: this study aims to bring exposure and awareness to Jamaica’s carnival to locals and tourists, as well as, highlighting the potential for it becoming a major diasporic event. Additionally this study aims to identify the problems associated with its struggle on attracting patrons and how these situations can be remedied. Furthermore, this study will analyze the gaps between Jamaica’s Carnival and its more successful counterpart of Trinidadian Carnival.
1.4

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