Meet Us On Beat Street music fest February 23

The Sounds and Pressure Foundation will stage its second annual Meet Us On Beat Street music festival on Sunday, February 23 from 11a.m. to 5p.m. The festival recognises the significant role that Orange 'Beat' Street, situated in downtown Kingston, played in the development of Jamaica's popular music.

Keeping with its mission of promoting downtown Kingston as a cultural tourism destination and the mecca of the Jamaican music industry, the Sounds and Pressure Foundation will highlight the unveiling of signages honouring the significant contributions made to the Jamaica music industry by Vincent and Pat Chin of Randy's Records, Sonia Pottinger of Tip Top Records, Winston Riley of Techniques Records, and Joe Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Studios.

Popular sound system

Officiating will be the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, who is expected to give the keynote address. The corridor along Orange Street between North and Charles streets will be closed to vehicular traffic and transformed into a creative and entrepreneurial area, showcasing products and services by the people of west Kingston, while a popular sound system will entertain the crowd.

According to Julian 'Jingles' Reynolds, chairman of the Sounds and Pressure Foundation, "What we are doing has been tried and proven in other major cities in New Orleans, New York, London to Paris, that there's a great value to the culture of the people and for them to benefit from." Jingles further explained that the idea of transforming Kingston into a cultural destination for visitors from around the world came to him and his late wife when they visited New Orleans for a weekend music festival several years ago, and also being exposed to street festivals displaying different cultures all over New York during summer months.

The event which forms part of Reggae Month's activities, culminates with a tribute to the Crown Prince of reggae, Dennis Brown, who is also a product of the Orange 'Beat' Street corridor. The tribute takes the form of a concert featuring several well-known artistes performing to honour the memory of one of the world's most loved reggae artiste.

Principal organisers are Trevor 'Leggo' Douglas, Colin Leslie, and James Samuels of the Sounds and Pressure Foundation, while Kingston Creative, The Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Tourism Enhancement Fund, VP Records Inc., Randy's Music Group, and Continental Enterprise are the participating and sponsoring organisations.