St. Croix students ages 14 to 18 are invited to create posters celebrating the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Crucian Christmas Festival, the Tourism Department announced Tuesday. The contest encourages students to artfully express what Festival means to them.

"The 60th anniversary of the Crucian Christmas Festival is a milestone in Virgin Islands' cultural history," Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson Doty said. "We are asking our schools to help commemorate this important occasion by participating in the contest and allowing students to artistically communicate the meaning of this cultural event."

Schools interested in participating should contact the Tourism Department for contest guidelines and signup forms. Each school must select one poster as the finalist. That poster must be submitted to the Tourism Department by Oct. 19.

The entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges representing the Virgin Islands art community.

The contest winner will receive $500 and their artwork will be used by the Tourism Departmentto help promote the 2012-13 Festival. Additionally, the winning school will be awarded $500 for its art department.

Finalists will also receive a gift bag and have their artwork displayed publicly at the Tourism Department offices. All participating students will receive a "Tourism is Me" T-shirt.

The poster contest is one of several initiatives the Tourism Department is implementing both locally and abroad to promote the 60th anniversary of the Crucian Christmas Festival

For more information and to sign up for the contest, call 773-0495.