Sumfest to go virtual

In less than two weeks, approximately 20 artistes will be performing at a virtual staging of Reggae Sumfest.

The revelation was made by CEO of Downsound Entertainment, Joe Bogdanovich, in an interview with THE STAR yesterday.

According to Bogdanovich, although many accepted that a cancellation of the physical staging of this year's event was in everyone's best interest, a general feeling of disappointment lingered.

"We heard their cries for a virtual show and my team and I acted on it," he said. "We have been working for a number of years to strengthen our partnership with these online platforms and it looks like now is showtime. This kind of show has never been done in reggae music on this kind of platform before, and so we believe it's a very positive move that will be beneficial to everyone."

Daddy 1, Ding Dong, Chronic Law, Sizzla, Protoje, Lila Ike and Maxi Priest are among the acts slated to perform.

Bogdanovich told THE STAR that getting the artistes on board presented few challenges as the Sumfest stage is such a coveted platform.

"People are excited about working on the Sumfest stage whether physical or virtual. It's one of the biggest stages in music and I think they (artistes) know that we deliver the goods every time and so it was very easy to get them to commit to performing. It's going to be mad. This one is going to be something for the books," he said. "It's a great platform, a global one, and I think this will be game changer for reggae artistes, reggae music and the entire industry especially in these COVID times."

In addition to the performances, Bogdanovich revealed that this year's event will see organisers taking a look back at the past 27 years. A recap of some of the show's biggest moments is expected during the week of July 20 to 25.

"We will be showing the best of Sumfest throughout the 27 years so far in our Spotlight series, and I think that will be a good lead-up to the performance day this year. It will be good to look back at some of the spectacular performances we've had on this show over the years and it will show just why we couldn't allow this year to pass without doing something. That rich legacy must be continued no matter what."