Mandeville to host festival song competition workshop

In an effort to boost the chances of prospective contestants ahead of the 2020 staging of the Jamaica Festival Song Competition, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) will host a series of workshops, beginning on Thursday January 30.

The second workshop will be held in Manchester, at the Mandeville Hotel, Mandeville the following day, Friday January 31.

The workshops are to target high-quality songwriters, performers, and producers who believe they can deliver a song that will form the backdrop of the country’s 58th Independence celebrations.

The workshop participants can expect to learn from leading industry figures within the reggae/dancehall fraternity on invaluable topics like songwriting, production, image and branding and public relations.

Presenters will include renowned reggae influencers Mikey Bennett, Nigel Staff, and Pat Gooden, as well as representatives from the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP).

For more than 50 years, the Jamaica Festival Song Competition has unearthed major talents on the Jamaican music scene.

It has catapulted talents such as Eric Donaldson, Roy Rayon and Freddie McKay, and has seen past competitors of note like Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals.