Jamaica House gets top marks in Rio

Lines of people stretched around the street corner as they tried to get into Jamaica House at the enchanting Jockey Club Brasilero in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the Olympics.

Among the big attractions were authentic Jamaican cuisine provided by chef Glenroy Walker from Sandals Resorts, musical selections by DJ Narity, never-ending Red Stripe beer and Appleton Rum as well as live performances from top reggae artistes, including Digicel brand ambassador, I-Octane, Luciano, Nature and Ky-Mani Marley.

"Epic has been the new norm in Rio, both on the track and at Jamaica House," noted Jason Hall, deputy director of tourism at the Jamaica Tourist Board. "We've exceeded expectations and have achieved a tremendous amount of awareness about destination Jamaica."

Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, Minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, shared similar sentiments saying: "Jamaica House has all the components that make us a great little nation packaged right here, so it had to be a success. The food, the music, the great vibe and the love were just some of the ingredients that helped to make this a wonderful experience."

In-between watching the races on the big screen, persons enjoyed the live performances, singing along with I-Octane's Dem Nuh Bad, We Love Di Vibes, Happy Time and Wine and Jiggle a few days earlier and then Ky-Mani Marley's Get High, Love Over All and Rasta Love last Saturday, when close to a thousand patrons filled the venue.

Jamaica House was a production of the Jamaica Tourist Board, in association with Digicel Jamaica, Sandals Resorts, Appleton and Red Stripe.