Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Left: Rupert Bent - winston sill   Right: Clyde Mckenzie - file

A lack of venues in Kingston plagues the entertainment sector, as promoters battle police, high costs and night noise laws among other things.

With the sale of the Mas Camp Village earlier this year and the shutting down of Cinema 2 last year, promoters are having nothing short of hell to find suitable venues.

Frankie Campbell, chairman of the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA), says the issue of a permanent stage and the lack of proper outdoor entertainment venues is long-standing. He said: "It has been one of our serious problems and we find that the cost of renting one has gone up in the last couple of years ... Mas Camp was the leading entertainment venue in Kingston, so where do we go from here? Going out of town is not the here? because there will always be people who do not want to travel to the country every weekend for a show."

One recent event that had major problems finding a venue is the Welcome to Jamrock concert, put on by Bentspeare Entertainment.

The event is to be staged at the Constant Spring Football Club this month. However, as one of the event's promoters Cindy Breakspeare says it took a lot of pleading to get approval to use the venue.

"I think everyone is comfortable now," she said. "I have talked with the superintendent about his concerns. We don't intend to disturb the neighbourhood."

Reservations

At the launch of Welcome to Jamrock, Rupert Bent Sr., co-promoter Bentspeare Entertainment, described that the venue was going to be so transformed it would launch the Constant Spring Football Club as an entertainment venue.

However, Jamrock may be the last show staged there. When The STAR contacted the superintendent for St. Andrew North division, Glenford Hudson, he had reservations about using the club as a venue. "The Constant Spring Football Club as a venue is a nuisance to the community, a venue that no permission will be granted for events to be held. They have to find venues not situated in the middle of communities. No matter how low they play the music, it's going to be carried. People have been complaining," he said.

While finding an immediate venue is an issue, it speaks to a far larger problem. As promoters have been saying, in a country where entertainment is at the forefront of the society, more attention needs to be paid to ensuring its success.

Breakspeare said: "In a country where music is so important we have no where to stage a show. I would like to appeal to the government. we need to have shows. I think the government needs to identify one land, that won't disturb people too much. We must have shows in Jamaica."

Jerome Hamilton of Headline Entertainment explained that the problem of venues affects stage shows more than other events as stage shows need larger venues. "Every industry needs a certain ideal environment. One of the key components that entertainment needs to flourish is missing - a lack of planning, a space to showcase the talent. We have limited venues. I think it's a good idea to have one outside of Kingston," he said.

Working on existing ones

The issue is one that has been discussed by the Entertainment Advisory Board. Chairman of the board, Clyde McKenzie, says that one of the initiatives of the board is the creation of a venue.

He said: "we have not gone as far in terms of naming a dedicated venue. We see the newly created Indoor Sports Arena with potential, we hear there are possibilities for the 'green field' in Trelawny. Also, the Ranny Willams Centre is planning some expansion."

According to McKenzie, there are venues but not the ones that people want, which can hold more than 10,000 patrons. The issue for him is not about creating a new venue but working on the existing ones.

Whatever the issues may be, it is obvious that the lack of venues is more and more becoming a pressing issue. It is an issue for which a solution needs to be found.