On the 27th March 2012 Jamaica's prominent TV Company "TVJ" came to Wales to film a feature on the 50th Independence Celebrations being held in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The "Strickly Roots Jamaica 50 Festival" on the 3rd 4th and 5th of August 2012 was featured as nothing has ever been held to this magnitude during previous years of the Jamaica independence celebratory events in Wales.
Interviews were conducted with Hilary Brown and Leo Muhammad (Mr Frazier - 'The Real McCoy' of the "Strickly Roots Jamaica 50 Festival" Barry. Both Hilary and Leo are two of the main organisers of the event, and a historical overview was given by active members of the 1st 2nd and 3rd generation Jamaican community living in Wales.
Hilary and Leo spoke about the "Strickly Roots Jamaica 50 Festival" that is planned to happen in the Vale of Glamorgan, it's aims to raise the profile of "All things Jamaican" and it's hope to leave a "lasting legacy of a developing business relationship between Wales and the Caribbean!"
Josephine McKenzie from Cardiff 3rd generation Jamaican and Neesha Brown from Barry who is a 2nd generation Jamaican were also among those interviewed alongside, Peter Smith a popular DJ also known as 'DJ Peter Ice' 'from 'Newport City Radio'
Both Josephine and Neesha conducted parts of their interviews fluently in the Welsh language, and were thrilled to be interviewed about the; country of their forefathers, their connection to Jamaica, and their pride in Wales.
DJ Peter Ice who is a 1st generation Jamaican spoke about his experience of living in Wales and the work that he does with young people in an attempt to raise their awareness of Jamaican culture through; music, history, culture poetry and the spoken word.
A visit was then made to the site of the "Strickly Roots Jamaica 50 Festival" which is being held at the Vale of Glamorgan’s Waterfront location.
The event is set to be hailed as the UK’s ‘Stand Out and Step Up ’ event with plans to make this a family fun weekend, with the profile of ‘All Tings Jamaican’ being raised everywhere you turn. Field events will see Jamaica’s history remembered, valuable contributions to the UK from Jamaicans acknowledged, and feedback from the community for the future plans for this event to be run annually and the positive profile of Jamaica raised in Wales.
Music, comedy, dance, children’s activities, food beverages, art and culture will all be on display and available with many interactivity events going on. If that is not enough, you will be able to take the UK’s only 'Reggae Train' from the site of the event to the beach side and fun fair at Barry Island, where the fun goes on and on and on and on.
For further information visit: http://www.jamaica-
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