Ft. Lauderdale – The Miss Jamaica Florida Pageant will this year celebrate its 24th anniversary year through the theme “Language and Labrish – A suh dem say – A Tribute to our Spoken History” on Sunday, June 30, 20, commencing at 5:00 p.m. at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts in Coral Springs, Florida.
Nineteen (19) contestants ages 5- 21, will compete in four age categories (Little Miss, Junior Miss, Miss Teen, and Miss) for a coveted title at the Coronation Ceremony, and will showcase their talents through a creative expression which venerate song, dance and drama, followed by a question and answer segment during a live interview.
Tickets to the show are adults $30 (advance) and $35 (at gate), and children (under 12) $15.
During the program, special tribute will also be paid in memory of the late Olive Lewin,, O.J., author, anthropologist and musicologist, formerly of the Jamaica Folk Singers, who died on April 9, University of the West Indies. She is best known for her recorded anthologies of old Jamaica folk songs, researched and collected over her lifetime.
Olive Lewin studied music and ethnomusicology in the United Kingdom. She is a Fellow of Trinity College, London, and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal School of Music. She also held the position of Director of Arts and Culture at the office of the Prime Minister of Jamaica as well as that of Director of the Jamaica Institute.
A culmination of the dreams and efforts of its founder since 1990, the late Bernard Anthony Baker, known for his work in the Arts, and the development of youth programs, the Pageant organization continues to serve as an inspiration to our young women in the Jamaican Diaspora.
The Foundation is a non-profit organization and the pageant is its annual fundraiser held to facilitate the Partners for Youth Foundation Scholarship Programme, and its monetary donations to charitable organizations including the Bustamante Children’s Hospital and the National Children’s Home in Kingston as well as the Jamaican Consulate’s annual Jamaica Independence Competition for students of Jamaican heritage residing in the State of Florida.
The Miss Jamaica Florida Pageant is not simply a beauty pageant; it is an avenue to build self-confidence and reward young ladies – first and second generation of Jamaican descent – for their talent, personal development, and achievements. During the pageant, the contestants will have an opportunity to enhance and learn more of their cultural heritage and enlighten peers and patrons through music, dance and theatre towards the annual theme.
This pageant is the annual fundraiser for The Partners for Youth Foundation. The Foundation is committed to the enhancement of children internationally, and recognition of young women in the area of the performing arts in the tri-county area of Broward, Dade and Palm Beach, through scholarships offered to students enrolled in a US tertiary institution majoring in performing arts.
The crowned ambassadors of the Miss Jamaica Florida Pageant will receive a prize-winning four-day trip to Jamaica, where she will meet with government officials and participate in humanitarian projects adopted by the Partners for Youth Foundation. The trip will also include visits to famous tourist attractions and national landmarks across the island. Pageant winners are referred to as ambassadors of goodwill and continue to enjoy celebrity status in Jamaica, and their Diasporic communities.
For more information about the Partners for Youth Foundation and the Miss Jamaica Florida
Pageant, visit WWW.MISSJAMAICAFLORIDA.COM
