Kavelle Anglin-Christie
and Teino Evans, Staff Reporters
Bounty Killer (left) and Vybz Kartel performing at the New Jersey Link Up, held at LaRoose, Portmore, last year. The two are booked for Reggae Sunsplash. - File
THERE IS a new Reggae Sunsplash in town. Not only is it the first staging of the event since 1997 in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, but it has a new venue and new sponsors.
The sponsors of this year's Reggae Sunsplash are International Events Management, the Guardsman Group of Companies and Cable and Wireless. The festival is
slated to take place at the Richmond Estate, Priory, St. Ann, from August 3-6.
Charles Campbell, director of operation and production of Reggae Sunsplash, spoke of the reasons for the festival's revival, saying that competing with Sumfest, the annual summer show staged in Montego Bay after Sunsplash moved out of the St. James city, was not among them.
"It was a yearning, really. We were getting a lot of feedback from people, some who have never been and those who used to go. So after a while it really reached a crescendo and we got a group of people involved and said we would have to do this one way or another. So Kenny Benjamin and myself started having discussions with Rodney Davis from Cable and Wireless," Campbell said.
"We believe that Jamaica should have many more outdoor festivals which satisfy both the local and international interests. Our objective is to stage an excellent reggae festival on Independence weekend, when there are lots of visitors to our island from abroad. We also want to showcase not just our reggae but also our excellent creative works that have impressed so many around the world," said Campbell.
He says one major difference with this year's show is the Jamaican art, craft and food which will be showcased.
Apart from the other obvious changes in the show, Campbell said the new location was chosen because it has the space to accommodate the patrons. Since the inception of the show in 1978 at Jarrett Park, Montego Bay, Sunsplash has also been at the Bob Marley Beach in Montego Bay, the Dover Raceway in St. Ann and Jam World in Portmore.
"The location will be able to accommodate over 20,000 cars and 150,000 persons. The festival site is approximately 200 acres, so half will be dedicated to parking and the other half to the festival," Campbell said.
However, with all its space, no reggae festival is complete without the artistes. Some of the acts already scheduled to perform are UB 40, Alpha Blondie and Wycleff Jean. "But how could I leave out our local international heroes? People like Turbulence, Richie Spice, Busy Signal, Vybz Kartel, Bounty Killer, Twin of Twins, Machel Mantano and Beenie Man," said Campbell.
He says the artistes and the Coalition of Sponsors have come to an agreement regarding their performances.
"Well, you will recall that the Coalition made a statement in which they had lifted the ban on the acts, but one has gone back on. Basically, how it works is three strikes and you're out. If you break the code of conduct the first time then you will get a warning, but if it happens again, then we will not support their actions," he said.
Campbell says all the parties have met and agreed to the conditions under which they will perform. "We have met and spoken to the management of the acts and we have set up contract writers indicating what the code of conduct is," he said.
"It is our first year back, so our expectations are modest, so over the four nights, we expect to get 50,000 people," he said.
Should that happen, it still remains unknown if they stand to receive a profit from the show, because Campbell was mum about how much is invested in the event. However, he said they would be tapping into the international market by selling video and audio recordings of the show.
"That is something that we will definitely be looking into this year, most definitely," he said.
