The organisers of Reggae Sunsplash are assuring patrons that the festival will return to the entertainment calendar in November this year, despite murmurings to the contrary.
Tyrone Wilson, executive producer of the festival which has not been held for the past 14 years, noted that plans are progressing steadily for the three-day event which will be staged in St Ann at the Grizzly’s Plantation Cove in Priory, the Puerto Seco Beach Park in Runaway Bay from November 6 to 8.
Wilson told the Jamaica Observer that at this time his team is involved in meeting with artistes as the event will offer a curated musical experience featuring a diverse range of musical acts.
“ We are involved in artiste engagement at this time. We are having conversations with the persons we want on the show, because our Sunsplash line-up is going to be a unique experience. It is not your typical we want this artistes or that artiste and they come and do a 45-minute set. So we are working closely with the artistes and their teams to get exactly what we want out of them to offer our patrons something to remember,” said Wilson.
He noted that each year Reggae Sunsplash will be selecting a reggae Icon to pay tribute to and for this year, the “Crown Prince” of reggae Dennis Brown has been chosen.
“ We have already met with the late singer’s estate and everything has been cleared for us to pay tribute to DBrown at Sunsplash. The Tribute will take the form of a musical presentation on one of the nights which will see a number of artistes singing his music. The public will also be involved in choosing which artiste performs and sings what song. This is particularly important for our millennials, many of whom are not familiar with the man and his music. We want to play our part in keeping the legacy of the man and his music alive for future generations. We don’t do a lot locally to celebrate the work of our greats, and we at Reggae Sunsplash wanted to make sure we played our part in remedying that.”
Wilson also shared that the tribute to Dennis Brown will be year long. Other activities are being organised to shed light on the work of the reggae great. These include a documentary as well as features for print and electronic media.
Meanwhile, Wilson said the Sunsplash team is not bothered by what he deemed negative comments regarding the restart of the festival.
“I just want to urge patrons to pay attention to what is out there about the festival. This is my first venture into the entertainment event space and I just want to ensure that everything goes according to plan. In terms of sponsorship we have gotten quite a few commitments from both local and international entities and we are working hard behind the scenes and don’t want to jump the gun and rush to make any announcements before it is all signed and sealed. So I’m not giving much credit to those conversations. we are excited about where we are now in preparations and look forward to a great festival,” said Wilson.