3 weeks ago
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Thirteen young women from across the island will step into the spotlight this weekend as they compete for the crown at the national finals of the 2025 Miss Jamaica Festival Queen Competition. The highly anticipated event will unfold at the Independence Village, located at the National Indoor Sports Centre in St Andrew.
Staged annually by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport through the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC). Festival Queen Chairperson Glenette Sinclair said that the competition has been a resounding success this year.
“For this year, we have had a successful show across all the parishes represented. We also adjusted the rules to include females over 25. The previous rule allowed entrance between 18 and 25, and we’ve now extended [it] to the age of 30. We had a lot of entrants across the country that were over the age of 25. We have the Miss Westmoreland winner who was one of those over 25 to win the crown,” Sinclair said.
She noted that the final show will see the ladies embodying the theme for this year, ‘The Jamaican Woman: Proud and Bold’.
“You’re going to see the ladies poised in their eveningwear; you’re going to see them come with their best talent pieces; they will all be representing the food, dance, and everything that is associated with Jamaican culture,” she said.
She further highlighted the significance and relevance of the competition in helping to keep aspects of Jamaican culture alive.
“We want to ensure that the youngsters coming up … get to feel authentic Jamaica. The role Festival Queen plays is to ensure that these ladies go and represent different aspects of the culture. At first, it started out as a beauty contest, and then it changed to focus more on culture, so that’s why you don’t have any bikini section. It’s not about beauty; it’s just focusing on culture,”Sinclair explained.
The coronation show is free to the public, but persons must secure tickets for admission.
“I want everybody to come out early and secure tickets at the different parish offices. They can [also] go to the head office on Phoenix [Avenue, Kingston] to secure tickets for the competition on August 2,” she added.
The show kicks off at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Television Jamaica, as well as the JCDC’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
English (US) ·