What began with the Reggae Sunsplash festival back in 19evolved to establish Jamaica as the main Caribbean island for open-air reggae festivals, celebrating the captivating rhythms and the Rastafari vibe. Music lovers mark their calendars in advance to travel to attend one of the many annual festivals on “The Rock” featuring reggae, jazz, blues, pop and rock music. Once you have experienced Sumfest, Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival or one of the many other music festivals, you will discover that it is not only about great music, but about the special vibe that spreads throughout the venues where locals and visitors mingle, socialize and have a good time.
Fans of dancehall music flock to the annual ‘Sting’ festival in December, and serious reggae and Rastafari followers don’t miss the yearly Rebel Salute every January. Yet, Montego Bay’s main festivals are the popular ‘Reggae Sumfest’, which takes place at the heart of Montego Bay each July and the annual ‘Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival’ in late January, held at Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny a mere 20 minute drive from Montego Bay.
Both ‘Sumfest’ and ‘Jazz’, which is how the locals popularly refer to the two festivals, practically bring with them their own holiday seasons.
Montego Bay is decorated with huge colorful posters boasting the festivals’ artist line-ups, giant Red Stripe bottles and colorful glowing blimps lighting up the night sky to the sounds of the heavy music beat. Hotels are booked up months in advance and the streets bustle with people discussing artist line-ups and performances. In the early morning, festival goers will give almost anything to find a bed to lay their head on after a night of socializing, drinking and dancing. Most importantly, everybody is in a groovy mood.
The festival revolution, conceived as ‘Reggae Sunsplash’ in 1978, was held annually until 1999. Tagged as ‘The Biggest Reggae Festival in the History of the World’, ‘Sunsplash’ established Montego Bay as the ‘Mecca for Reggae lovers’ guaranteing full hotels every year. In 1993, ‘Reggae Sumfest’ was born and eventually took over completely as the one and only ‘Greatest Reggae Show on Earth’. In the case of ‘Sumfest’, a few things have changed since the early days. For example, the then innovative and essential ‘Reggaebed’ (a mattress sized piece of card board) has been replaced by nylon-clothed folding chairs. The privately run food and merchandise stalls along the fence-line of the venue from back in the days have to a great extent been replaced by booths operated by larger corporations. Today, shows are closed by a Vybz Kartel or Tony Rebel at around 6:00 am instead of Gregory Isaacs in duet with Dennis Brown at 10:00 am. In addition, international acts form a major part of today’s festivals, bringing the standards of performances to a world renowned level. However, despite being much more commercialized, the magic of the festivals has not changed much and determined festival goers faithfully flock to event venues to listen to the music and have a good time. Despite little mercy from the weather gods, approximately 6,000 people made their way to Catherine Hall for the ‘Reggae Sumfest’ in July 2010. Some wore rubber boots, while others covered their shoes with lada bags (Jamaican slang for plastic shopping bags) to move around the muddy grounds. The event was professionally produced as usual, starting from smooth parking to swift band changes and an appealing looking stage.
One of the most attended nights of Sumfest, ‘Dancehall Night’ had the crowd raving with performances by Aidonia, Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and Spice, before the final act was given by one of the main faces of this popular music genre, Vybz Kartel. ‘International Night 1’ showcased 21-year-old Chris Brown who had the ladies weak in the knees with his skilled dance moves and performance of his biggest hits including Gimme Dat, Run It, Say Yow, Brown Skin Girl, and With You. Other fantastic acts were staged by reggae greats JahCure, Gyptian, and Etana while newcomer Romain Virgo surprised the audience with a fantastic show. ‘International Night 2’ featured an amazing closing by Gramps Morgan, Tarrus Riley, Beenie Man, Shaggy and the one and only Usher, who called Elephant Man and Chris Brown up on stage and ended up in a dance off to the delight of the screaming fans.
Appealing to a more mature audience and focusing on Jazz & Blues, the Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival was born in 1997 and later rebranded the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival with The Jamaica Tourist Board as one of the main sponsors. Over the years, ‘Jazz’ has seen fabulous performances by many international artists including Lionel Richie, Michael Bolton, Babyface, Gladys Knight and reggae greats such as Maxi Priest and Third World. The 15th anniversary at the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny was held January 23 – 29, 2011, and boasted three days of fabulous music from the main stage. The festival kicked off Thursday night with performances by the Paul Peress Project backed the powerful voices of Brenda Russell and Phil Perry, dapper looking ‘Mr. Big’ Ron Isley, who delivered a soulful act that had the crowd swinging and the energy loaded shows of Diana King and Soca queen Alison Hinds.
Friday brought rocking performances by the soulful ‘Sisters With Voices’ SWV, jazz and R&B singer Regina Belle and the eagerly awaited three-time Grammy Award winners Maroon 5, who put on a 75 minute performance with their greatest hits including Misery, She Will Be Loved and Won’t Go Home Without You. Known for their catchy mixture of pop, R&B and funky traces, the quintet had the full attention of screaming teenagers as well as the typical forever young Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival supporters.
Despite the sky opening its floodgates on Saturday night, the countless patrons who took shelter in the many tents, skyboxes and under umbrellas, thoroughly enjoyed the energy loaded Silver Bird Steel Orchestra, an impressive act by Laura Izibor, beloved reggae singer Tarrus Riley, Natalie Cole and hit-making duo Air Supply who came on stage at 3:15 am.
Times change, but one thing is for sure; the best in local and international music, good food and drink, wonderful people from all over the world and the unbeatable Jamaican vibe are guaranteed for anybody attending any of these world-class events. Come and enjoy! www.reggaesumfest.com, www.jamaicajazzandblues.com
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