Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter

ELMORE

WESTERN BUREAU:

The historic Rose Hall Aqueduct in Montego Bay, St. James, has been chosen as the new venue for the 10th annual Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, next year.

Citing that the new venue is only across the street from Cinnamon Hill, the venue for the past five years, executive producer for the event, Walter Elmore, said that he was optimistic that the change would be well received by patrons.

"Last year the venue at Cinnamon Hill got a bit crowded on Friday and Saturday," he said. This venue is about twice as wide as the old venue."

"There will be parking on the venue so, especially for people in wheelchairs, you can just get out of the car and come straight on the venue. I think we have space for a couple thousand cars and we will be making arrangements for having special passes for people to park on site," he said.

"We made every effort to retain the feel," he continued, adding "the aqueduct is going to be the backdrop for the stage. We recreated the mounds and the food court with much of the feel that we had before, but this time it is on the ocean so it is a little bit nicer and there are no big hills to climb."

Of the 30 acres allocated for the event some 15-18 acres have been earmarked for parking, leaving the remaining 12 for the actual venue, doubling last year's six-acre venue size. Additional parking space will also be provided across from the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club Hotel.

Jazz and Blues 2007 is slated to showcase Monty Alexander, Michael Bolton, Kenny Rogers, Christopher Cross and a tribute to Abba Gold.