Sizzla To Headline Reggae Month Concert For Fully Vaccinated Audience
Reggae/Dancehall superstar Sizzla Kalonji is billed to headline one of two Reggae Month concerts described by Entertainment Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange, as to be staged live in front of a “small number of specially invited, fully vaccinated guests”.
In a release which was posted on Instagram, Grange, a former manager of Shabba Ranks, Bounty Killer and Patra, said that her Ministry had received authorization for two special Reggae Month concerts, the first face-to-face event since the start of the pandemic in 2020, where Reggae Month activities have been staged ‘virtually’.
Describing it as “a great development as Jamaica prepares to reopen the events and entertainment sectors”, Grange said that while her Ministry was “starting with these two very high-quality concerts at which a small number of specially invited, fully vaccinated guests will be allowed to attend in person,” everyone else will be able to enjoy the music via broadcast on the various Reggae Month TV platforms.
“The first event, dubbed Reggae On the Pier, will feature some of Reggae’s biggest names including Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Tarrus Riley, Derrick Morgan, Richie Spice, Christopher Martin and Romain Virgo,” Grange’s release said.
“The second event is Sizzla Kalonji in Concert with the 35 piece Reggae Orchestra, which will be filmed on the weekend for delayed broadcast on Reggae Month TV,” it added.
Reggae On the Pier, which was produced in association with VP Records, is being filmed in Port Royal this evening for broadcast at a later date on Reggae Month TV, according to the Minister who is Member of Parliament for St. Catherine Central.
Reggae Month TV is being streamed daily on various online platforms, including the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s YouTube and Facebook pages as well as that of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and the Minister’s, as well as on PBCJ and Television Jamaica.
However, the Minister’s notation that the event would be for fully-vaccinated persons did not go down well with some of her followers.
“So other jurisdictions are rescinding vaccine requirements and allowing unvaccinated persons to move about freely. Yet we here are still being backward. Wow,” sir_tygodsson said.
“The Music that stands for One Love has now a separation of people,” lennhammond rebuked.
Another follower, _travelaa was caustic in his remarks.
“Not one of you deserve to utter or celebrate black history or reggae month which represents love and unity when you only contradict yourselves in action! Still enslaved and can’t even see it,” he said.
Reggae Month which is now having its 15th staging, was Grange’s brainchild.
The month of February was first declared as Reggae Month in 2008, by then-Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
At the time the Prime Minister had said that the celebrations were aimed at highlighting the impact of the genre on Jamaica’s social, cultural, and economic development.
Golding had also said that a month of activity was necessary in order to sharpen the focus and draw the attention of the world to what he described as a “powerful asset that is wholly Jamaican” as well as to give full recognition to the music as a cultural capital, and “to assert Jamaica’s authority on the music so there can be no ambiguity of its origin”.
He had also said apart from being a part of Jamaica’s culture, Reggae had been used by its nationals as a means of expression and to communicate their experiences, trials and successes, joys and sorrows, as well as to declare the country’s position against oppression and suffering.
The former Jamaica Labour Party leader had also contended that this aspect of the music was the reason it had been embraced by people globally.
Each year, a variety of methods are used to analyze and celebrate Reggae Month, among them music showcases, film screenings, and academic conferences.