The capital city of Kingston is making a comeback as the cultural epicentre of the country, betting on a vibrant mix of art, food, and heritage to restore its title as arguably the cultural epicentre of the Caribbean.

In the 1960s, Kingston, Jamaica, was a musical mecca where most of Jamaica’s most renowned artiste’s such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Toots Hibbert and other artists were drawn by the recording studios and record shops lining so-called Beat Street. However, political unrest and rampant crime marred the following decades but now downtown Kingston is forging a comeback as a Caribbean cultural capital.

National Geographic writes that while the tourist impression of the island is frequently limited to all-inclusive resorts and reggae music, Kingston is where the creative spirit of the island lives. The capital city is cleaning up its urban core so artists, chefs, and musicians throughout the region can showcase their talents there.

Kingston Creative, which is a non-profit arts organisation, which is empowering creative people and transforming downtown Kingston is leading in this effort and is responsible for the colorful concourse covered in murals of Jamaican landscapes and icons that runs from the National Gallery of Jamaica on Kingston’s waterfront to the museum district.

The gallery is downtown’s artistic centerpiece, a two-story museum carved out of an old department store. Kingston Creative deputy director, Janet Crick told National Geographic, “this place (downtown Kingston) is just buzzing…We’ve done tremendous work in the past six years, and bit by bit we’re stripping off some of the negative images that have become attached to Kingston.”

The centrepiece of downtown’s revival is the ROK Hotel, an acronym for “Rebirth of Kingston” but also a nod to a Scandinavian term for “room and kitchen.”

The capital’s lone Hilton Tapestry property stands on the waterfront as an icon of urban resurgence; its restaurant Palate has won multiple awards as best in the nation.

Port Royal, Kingston’s historic seaport district, just opened a new cruise terminal, which Director of Tourism, Donovan White explains has been instrumental in the city’s recent revival. On the last Sunday of every month, Kingston Creative hosts a free public art walk, where musicians and dancers join the artists who made the murals for a daylong cultural showcase.

The new event has played a big part in bringing people back to the urban core. White says new highways are connecting traditional tourism destinations like Ocho Rios with Kingston, so visitors to the beaches and waterfalls in the north can immerse themselves in Jamaican culture by driving only an hour south.

“There’s so much to do now,” White explained, adding, “with our cultural activities, music festivals, and access to the city, Kingston has turned into a metropolis in the Caribbean people want to be a part of.”