Likkle Revellers shines carnival spotlight on children

Children’s carnival is back on the annual calendar of events, and Likkle Revellers is helping to kick things off. The event had its official launch on Wednesday at Hope Road in St Andrew. The event, which organisers say is best suited for children aged 5 to 12, takes place in Kingston on Sunday, March 21, 2027. The young revellers will take to the road in full costume, in a band comprising three sections.

The force propelling Likkle Revellers Carnival is Jessica Campbell, a socaphile who has fond memories of participating in Kiddies Carnival, a legacy of the late, legendary bandleader Byron Lee. Campbell and her team promise that Likkle Revellers, being held under the theme ‘Into the Wild’, will bring the excitement and magic of carnival through a fun-filled, family-friendly experience.

“We want to be able to create the opportunity for the new generation to be able to experience a rich culture ... the culture that I experienced way back in [the] 1990s when Byron Lee and Jamaica Carnival had initiated Kiddies Carnival. Carnival [in Jamaica] has grown into this iconic carnival that is not just known worldwide and attracts thousands of visitors, but it’s also a place that has earned the anticipation in the event calendar within Jamaica,” Campbell said.

There was much discussion about Likkle Revellers as a powerful celebration of rediscovery, cultural revival and creative evolution as a new generation “reconnects with roots of Jamaican carnival while discovering new possibilities for its future”.

“We’re going to be doing it two weeks before traditional adult carnival. And that allows all the kids that have PEP exams to participate because PEP will be finished,” Campbell told The Gleaner, emphasising that the costumes are modest and the songs will be specially curated for the age group.

Family-oriented experiences

She believes that expanding the carnival audience by creating more cultural and family-oriented experiences is important. The “carnival baby” is also excited about creating opportunities for a wide cross-section of people, including event promoters, designers, manufacturers and suppliers, while also developing tourism opportunities.

And speaking of tourism, enter Executive Director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Dr Carey Wallace, who came with figures that showed the impact of carnival in Jamaica.

“We did this study, ‘The Impact Assessment of Carnival in Jamaica’, and we found that it stirred the local economy. So the direct and indirect benefits to Jamaica of Carnival in Jamaica, 2025, were $165.7 billion. To put it in perspective, the annual budget in that year of the Ministry of Education to pay all teachers and utilities in every school... that type of thing... was less than 165 billion,” Wallace stated.

He added, “So I want you to recognise that staging events to attract visitors, staging events to pretty much make Jamaica a more sought-after destination, translates into wealth for all people.”

The TEF executive director shared that “the tourism 3.0 mantra is that we are going to make sure tourism doesn’t just grow in Jamaica, but tourism grows Jamaica”.

“Travel and tourism is growing as one of the fastest industries on our planet,” Dr Wallace said. “In fact, our target in tourism is to achieve 10 million visitors in 10 years by 2036, earning 10 billion US dollars for Jamaica. We believe that it’s enough for us to have a developed nation right here in Jamaica, a developed nation, meaning all of us are living a great quality of life from that industry.”

And this is where the Likkle Revellers’ “modestly designed costumes” come into play. Campbell revealed that the costumes, which were a highlight of the launch as a few children modelled them on stage, were designed and executed by an all-Jamaican team that includes Chris Jackson, Ashley M. and Simone Michelle.

“We’re also producing majority of our costumes here in Jamaica,” Campbell said. “But, I’m actually also very proud to say that we’re also managed not just by an all-Jamaican team, but an all-woman team.”

Linkages programmes

Wallace said that he was pleased to hear that the costume designers were 100 per cent Jamaican “so that means all this spend for costumes goes into the pockets of costume designers ... and if they buy the material from Jamaican suppliers, that will be another turn of the money inside the country”.

He noted that this is what the linkages programmes in TEF are all about.

“How can we make what tourists consume ... the tourist dollar that comes into Jamaica ... translate and permeate the nooks and crannies of Jamaica creating wealth right into the communities,” Wallace stated.

Director of policy and research in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Phillip Clarke, brought an inspiring message from Minister Olivia Grange.

Happy with what she described as “the overwhelmingly great feedback” Campbell is looking forward to creating a memorable experience for children and parents in March 2027.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com