European reggae festival comes ‘home’ to Jamaica for 30-year celebration

A reggae festival which has been held in Europe for 29 years, makes its way ‘home’ to Jamaica to celebrate its 30th anniversary with two days of festivities. The Reggae Jam International Festival out of Germany has joined cultural hands and musical hearts with Reggae Park 42o in Trelawny to stage what is shaping up to be one of the biggest events for the summer of 2024.

The festival, which uses the tagline ‘Europe’s most authentic reggae festival’, makes its Jamaica début on June 14 and 15, with a line-up of brilliance led by Burning Spear.

Cortia Shepherd, public relations and customer experience director of Reggae Park 420 shared that her company has known the festival organisers “for years” and when they shared that 2024 would be their 30th anniversary, the suggestion came up to host the festival in Jamaica.

“Reggae Park is a brand new property. We purchased it in 2019 and then the pandemic hit. It is exquisite ... the backdrop is the mountains ... and the river wraps around the property like a horseshoe. Right now, we are putting in the bathrooms, fencing for the festival, restaurants and a camp site. It will be a home for reggae festivals because we realise that that is what is missing,” Shepherd explained.

The goal is to enrich the community, while building a venue that will stand the test of time and symbolise greatness.

“It’s the kind of thing where you have not performed at a reggae venue until you perform at Reggae Park,” a truly excited Shepherd said.

The festival organisers were invited to the island to take a look at Reggae Park 420, and after doing so were totally sold on the idea of coming ‘home’ to Jamaica and, as Shepherd noted, “the rest is history”.

The Trelawny property, which was originally a sugar plantation, can comfortably accommodate 60,000 to 100,000 persons, and the owners promise that it provides the perfect setting for a reggae show like no other.

CEO of Reggae Park 420 D.A. Forbes has been qoted as saying that “reggae music has a unique ability to inspire and connect people of all ages and can bridge the generational gap “through its infectious rhythm”.

“By embracing this genre, we have created a space, Reggae Park 420 Escape, where individuals from different backgrounds can find common ground. So, let’s celebrate the unifying force of reggae music and allow it to bring us all together. That’s why the RP 420 family is proud to announce the upcoming performance of Burning Spear at the Reggae Jam International Festival, who will share his positive and powerful message through his music,” Forbes noted.

Burning Spear, who lives overseas, has not performed in Jamaica for 10 years. He came out of retirement in 2022 and has been performing on select events. Shepherd said his decision to participate in Reggae Jam International was inspired by the suggestion that this could be the ideal moment to make his return to the island.

“This is the pinnacle of a reggae show. It’s going to be an historic event, [so] who better to lead the charge? His decision was more about the vision for reggae music...it wasn’t the money. We want to celebrate Burning Spear. Bob Marley is getting a lot of praises now, and we want to celebrate Burning Spear while he’s alive,” Shepherd shared.

Burning Spears has won two Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album; one at the 42nd Grammy Awards for Calling Rastafari, and the other for Jah Is Real. He has been nominated for a total of 13 Grammy Awards, with the most recent being 2023 for No Destroyer.

The diverse line-up of artistes for the two-day festival includes Beenie Man, Busy Signal, Gramps Morgan, Leroy Sibbles, Etana, Queen Ifrica, Tanya Stephens, I-Octane, Natty King, Turbulence, Jah9, Kumar, and more.

Tickets are now available, and Shepherd shared that not only have sales been encouraging, hotels in the area are also filling up as Europe comes to Jamaica for Reggae Jam International.

“Also, we have endorsement from the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport,” Shepherd added.

The official launch takes place this evening at Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com