Over a decade of 'Christmas Extravaganza'

Now in the twelfth year of staging his event, GT Taylor says plans are in place for a fresh Jagra GT Taylor Christmas Extravaganza show on Christmas Day.

The radio personality says he feels pleased to be hosting the show for over a decade.

"I feel great. It's an achievement to start an event from scratch and see how it has grown. I am feeling good," he told The Sunday Gleaner of the event that will be held at Independence Park in Black River, St Elizabeth, on December 25.

With the planning process starting at the end of last year's staging, Taylor says he has done the necessary preparations to make this year's show another peaceful and incident-free event.

This year, Taylor said some new elements have been added to re-energise the show. One of the main things is the 'party zone' that will be at one section of the large venue. He said the music in that area would not interrupt the actual show because it will be contained to that section. He said patrons would also be able to socialise in this area, especially during the band changes.

"We just decided to do something a little different. You have to be energising the event to make it a little bit different. To keep that fresh momentum all the time, we keep reinventing ourselves," Taylor said.

In addition, he said there would be more security, additional parking and more stalls. He said the entrance would also be made patron-friendly and an effort would be made to highlight fresh acts.

"Of course, there will be excellent performances from the artistes. We try to put together a well-rounded package," he added.

Taylor said there would be 40 acts performing on the show including Bounty Killer, Mavado, Coco Tea, I-Octane, Aidonia, Khago, John Holt, Macka Diamond, D'Angel, Professor Nuts, Tony Matterhorn, KipRich, Twin Of Twins, Spice, Lutan Fyah, Romain Virgo, Iley Dread, Chuck Fender, Warrior King, Harry Toddler, Charly Black and Junior X. There will also be acts like Hezron, Toya, Tanto Blacks, Villa Dutch, Ibahmar, Zamunda, Baby Chris, Mikeylous, Chi Ching Ching, Specialist, Brimstone, Acid, Calli Blaxx, and Hitman Walley.

But with the general elections scheduled to take place days after the event, Taylor said there were concerns.

"The show must go on. It's Christmas night. I am concerned but I think people are going to go out and have a good time," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Despite his concerns, Taylor says he expects to have a great show.

"I am expecting a great show. We are looking forward to putting on a better show than last year," he said.