Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett has announced that Carnival in Jamaica organisers will forego its annual road march and related activities until April 11, 2021.
Minister Bartlett says “As the country enters the community transmission phase of the COVID-19 virus, the Ministry strongly believes it is in the best interest of our people, to forego hosting the annual carnival celebrations for this year.”
He said “they are mindful of the significant economic loss this will have on our country, as this event generates billions annually, with many small and medium-sized enterprises benefitting from the celebrations. However, the Government of Jamaica must continue to put strong measures in place to prevent unnecessary exposure of our people and visitors to the deadly disease.”
The road parade originally scheduled for Sunday, April 19 was first postponed to Sunday, October 25, due to the threat of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The ministry said the decision to forego hosting the event in 2020 was made after consultation with event organisers and members of Government and is in keeping with current containment measures.
He further noted that all of the bands and fetes will honour all tickets and costumes purchased in 2020 for the 2021 staging.
The ministry said a revised Carnival in Jamaica calendar, including all the major fetes will follow in the coming days.
