Reggae Month ‘cyah stall’, says JaRIA - President says ministry footing bill, but more is possible with corporate support
Published:Wednesday | February 5, 2020 | 12:21 AMShereita Grizzle/Staff Reporter
The lack of adequate sponsorship has been a thorn in the side of Reggae Month organisers for many years. In recent times, some activities planned under the month-long celebrations have had to be postponed or cancelled as organisers scrambled to get the necessary funds together to play host. But as the country marks the 13th anniversary of Reggae Month celebrations this year, Jamaicans can look forward to no interruptions in the schedule for the next three weeks.
Speaking at a recent Gleaner Entertainment Forum, Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) President Ewan Simpson expressed that with the financial support the organisation has received from the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, it’s all systems go for the rest of the month. “Everything we have planned for this month will happen and the month is being led by the ministry. The minister is the chief driver in it all. Anything that JaRIA does is possible because of the ministry. Our most significant sponsor for Reggae Month traditionally and also this year is the ministry. Without them we couldn’t do this,” he said. “The Tourism Enhancement Fund is running a close second to the ministry (all of the consolidated funds come from the Ministry of Finance), but I want to put it out there that Reggae Month cyah stall, it won’t stall. It is on in earnest. We are out and ready to roll.”
Still, while Simpson expects things to go on without any glitches, he lamented that it has been an uphill battle for the minister to secure the necessary funds to host the month of activities. “It’s war for our minister of culture to go into Cabinet and say this needs to be given pride of place in terms of financial allotment because people feel like there is no real economic return, but last year was a prime example of the kind of economic impact that entertainment has. When you think of what happened between Rebel Salute, Reggae Sumfest and Buju’s show, there was a non-stop flow of not just entertainment activity but economic activity across the country,” he said highlighting the economic gains the country experienced through the highlighted events. “Everybody was surprised, they couldn’t believe that every Air BnB was sold out, every car was rented and every hotel was booked, but that’s what happens when the entertainment industry is booming, and it happens everywhere in the world.”
“If we could get corporate Jamaica to join in and support Reggae Month, we could do so much more with this treasure,” he continued.
When compared to Carnival, Simpson said Reggae Month has received little to no corporate backing. “The entrance of Carnival into the Jamaican entertainment space and the sustenance of Carnival is significantly private sector driven, big businesses support it. On the other hand, I’ve had the experience of beating the pavement trying to get corporate Jamaica – big Jamaican banks – to provide support to the product that will celebrate Jamaica’s entertainment industry,” he said. “They either tell you a flat ‘no’ or they offer you J$200,000. They would never offer carnival $200,000 because that’s the cost of two costumes.”
But while he admits that corporate has not been as supportive of Reggae Month as it has been of other entertainment activities, Simpson admitted organisers can do more to attract that support. “All of us went to high school and we know what qualified as co-curricular. People are now just coming to see the entertainment industry as that, an industry. We as a people had not seen for many years that it could have formal structure just like banking and finance,” he said. “We have to look at how corporate supports a product. They’re looking at numbers and as an industry we have not been able to package what we have and present it in that way.”