FRESH from the New York launch of Reggae Sumfest a week ago, Josef Bogdanovich is preparing to share the plans for this year’s show locally on May 11.Bogdanovich is chairman of Summerfest Promotions — promoters of Reggae Sumfest.
The Jamaican launch is set for Usain Bolt Tracks and Records in St Andrew, with the final preliminary event set for Miami, Florida, on May 18.
According to Bogdanovich, the New York launch generated quite a bit of interest and was used to showcase the event to an international audience.
“This is the 25th anniversary of Reggae Sumfest and we are alive and doing well… The festival is rapidly growing, and with this year’s seven days of events, we are seeing a great level of enthusiasm in the marketplace. This has shown itself in the fact that all the tickets we offered as part of the early bird special have been sold,” he told the Observer.
Sumfest is scheduled for July 16-22 at Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay, St James.
He also sees this year’s line-up as being one of the strong points of the event. For the second consecutive year the festival will feature only reggae and dancehall acts. This is a departure from the practice of previous years of including major international acts, predominantly from the R&B or hip hop genres, to boost the offering.
“Having artistes like a Sean Paul, Sizzla, Queen Ifrica, and Jah Cure is really uplifting to the Sumfest line-up. Add to that popular acts Alkaline, Mavado and Patto Ranks out of Africa and you have something for the young people. Richie Stephens and his Ska Nation Band is another important element as Reggae Sumfest is paying homage to ska as one of the founding sounds coming out of Jamaica”.
“The heavyweight sound clash on July 20 between Warrior out of Germany and Soul Supreme from New York is also something to look forward to.”
Bogdanovich further noted that he is “bullish” in pushing Sumfest to take its place on an international level, moving away from a small festival in a town in Jamaica, but being able to compete with the other summer reggae festivals of the world.
“One of the things we noted from last year is that with free streaming were able to reach 22 million people. This year we hope to double that figure. We have more time to plan this compared to last year, and right now we are way ahead of schedule so I am confident that we can reach this target,” Bogdanovich added.
