Nine finalists feature in JCDC Jamaica Festival Song Video Block 2026

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) has released the Jamaica Festival Song Video Block 2026, presenting nine finalists in the long-running Festival Song Competition that has supplied music for Emancipation and Independence observances since 1966.

Now in its 60th year, the contest continues to draw interest from Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora. The video block arrives as the country marks Independence 2026 — Jamaica 64 — under a theme of unity and resilience. Viewers are invited to watch the performances and cast votes for their preferred entry.

Among the finalists is Latania Stamp, whose song “My Jamaica Land of Festival” celebrates Jamaican culture, people and festival life. Aba Jones is campaigning with “Teeth a Fi Mi,” describing the track as funny, factual and rooted in local culture. D Burns is promoting “I Don’t Know About You, But I Love Jamaica,” written with three friends and framed as a love song to the island — from roast breadfruit and jerk chicken to big sound systems — that anyone can claim as their own.

Solomon Walters, known as Brother C, is asking for support for “Jamaican Wari,” a pride anthem that casts Jamaica as a Caribbean paradise and a nation that holds firm through hard times. Beverly Henry’s “Jamaica Pop” spans old-time and contemporary Jamaica, resilience through hardship, and life in the digital age. Elton Erington is singing “Proud of Jamaica,” written by his friend Pelifier, who encouraged him to enter the JCDC contest this year.

Tristar is pushing “I Am Jamaican,” written to express national resilience, strength and the way Jamaicans stand out abroad. Music teacher Oando Levy is behind “Jamaica School Bing,” a classroom-style song blending old-school and new-generation energy; he developed it with family after performing similar material for students, packing in historical notes on Jamaican innovation and achievement. Another finalist also appears in the block with a unity-focused island anthem.

Together the nine songs form the musical track of the 2026 Festival Song Competition — a tradition organisers say still captures the country’s story in song six decades on.