Lost In Time Festival hopes to boost tourism in Kingston
Published:Friday | February 24, 2023 | 12:24 AMAaliyah Cunningham/Gleaner Writer
The organisers of the Lost In Time Festival, scheduled for this Saturday at the Hope Gardens in St Andrew, say that Kingston should see a boost in the local economy and tourism.
“That [the economic benefit] is a big part of why we are doing this ... to encourage people to come, especially during Reggae Month. It was very important that we do it now and we do want to make it an annual event so hopefully we will launch earlier next year so people can arrange their holiday plans to come here,” event organiser LeAnn Ollivierre told The Gleaner in a conversation ahead of the show.
Organisers have also worked out special arrangements with the AC Hotel in Kingston for guests who are staying for the festival to receive a reduced rate. Lost In Time Festival has a line-up of 10 reggae artistes, features two stages, and is to showcase several artisan and food vendors. A dining experience with Stush In The Bush has also been added to the list of attractions.
“If you purchase a ticket online you can basically log in to your account and add on to the experience. We have three seating options, one from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.; another from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and then the last one from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. If persons purchase physical tickets, then we invite them to email us and submit their information and then we can sign them up for that experience,” Ollivierre explained.
Set up at the venue got under way last Tuesday in anticipation of the crowd on Saturday. Rehearsals have also been ongoing. However, with the release of the layout and the various points from which persons are expected to enjoy the show, many ticket holders have expressed concern about their ability to see the stage from the comfort experience. However, Ollivierre emphasised that everyone will have full view of both stages.
“If you have a comfort ticket and you want to access front of stage, you can because you have access to the concert experience area or you can also see the stage from the two-level viewing deck that we have created for or our comfort experience patrons. Then we have screens in the area like the cool down deck and the bar so they will be able to see what is going on, on both stages,” she explained.
Those billed to perform on the show are Protoje, Jesse Royal, Lila Ike, Jas Elise, Mortimer, Tesselated, Ras-I, Yaadcore, Naomi Cowan and Samory I.