The criteria for the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen competition have been updated to make the annual pageant, a key part of the Emancipation and Independence celebrations, more inclusive.

These changes will provide more young women with the opportunity to represent their community, parish, and the nation. 

Traditionally, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) organizes the Festival Queen competition for young ladies between the ages of 18 and 24. However, this year, the guidelines have been expanded to allow participants up to 30 years old. 

Minister of Culture and Gender Olivia Grange, in announcing the change, noted that this widening of the age requirements allows for diversity and representation from a greater number of young ladies from across the island.

“This is so great for the competition. Over the years we have met many wonderful young ladies who would have been great for the competition, but when we approach them we are told they are over the age limit. So this will help us capture these potential contestants and bring them into this strong sorority and sisterhood of festival queen contestants.”

“The truth is a lot of potential contestants complete their tertiary education and other commitments after age 24  so this move can only yield the best results for the pageant,” Minister Grange continued.

The Miss Jamaica Festival Queen competition begins annually with eliminations at the parish level, where each parish hosts its own coronation to select a representative for the national finals. The parish queens then advance to the national stage, where they compete for the prestigious title at the National Festival Queen coronation

The current queen is Omolora Wilson from the parish of St Elizabeth.

Over the years the competition has showcased intelligent, culturally aware, and talented young women who have gone on to represent themselves admirably. The latest example is Aundrene Cameron, Miss Jamaica Festival Queen 2023, who was recently named the Jamaica Rhodes Scholar for 2025. She is set to pursue post-graduate studies in criminology at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

Several Miss Jamaica Festival Queens have gone on to higher heights as cultural ambassadors and nation builders in their respective career fields, including Dahlia Harris, Toni-Shae James-Freckleton, Tanesha McGhie, Marsha Barnett, Katrina Grant-D’Aguilar, Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Kemesha Kelly, Jennifer “Jenny Jenny” Small, Krystal Tomlinson, Sashane McDonald, and Dainalyn Swaby.

Applications for the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen competition can be submitted online at  https://jcdc.awardsplatform.com/ up to midnight on March 14.