Reggae Sumfest


Reggae Sumfest

JulyThe largest reggae event in the world, Reggae Sumfest, takes place each July in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The annual festival features the world's best-known reggae performers as well as salespeople hawking such island specialties as curried goat, bammy and fish, sugarcane, and jelly coconut. This is one of the world's premier musical events, attracting up to 50,000 people.
Reggae originated as the music of the Jamaican poor, reflecting social discontent and the Rastafarian movement. Jamaican-born reggae star Bob Marley, who died of brain cancer at the age of 36, transformed the island-bred music into an international craze. He is venerated in Jamaica much as Elvis Presley is in the United States, and his former house and studio in Kingston, called Tuff Gong, is still a center for some of the more serious reggae music being produced today.
CONTACTS:
Summerfest Productions
Montego Bay, Ste. 1,
P.O. Box 1178
St. James, Jamaica
876-953-2933; fax: 876-953-8295
www.reggaesumfest.com