| July 19, 2009 | ||
| 2:00 pm | to | 11:59 pm |
| July 23, 2009 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 11:59 pm |
| July 24, 2009 7:00 pm | to | July 25, 2009 11:59 pm |
| July 25, 2009 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 11:59 pm |
Reggae Sumfest 2009, widely regarded as one of the best reggae music festivals in the world, will be held from July 19-25 at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Mo’Bay’s sunny skies, picturesque mountains, white sand beaches, and turquoise waters – the perfect destination for an idyllic vacation – are the perfect backdrop to this summer’s dancehall and reggae blowout.
Reggae Sumfest was originally founded to promote reggae music and has grown to include dancehall as well, generally using a 3-day formula that involves 1 night of dancehall music performances and 2 nights of reggae performances. Every year, Reggae Sumfest attracts more than 30,000 international reggae fans and local Jamaicans. This “Mecca of reggae music festivals” showcases the best reggae, dancehall, R&B, and hip hop artists in a festive Jamaican atmosphere where attendees enjoy local Jamaican cuisine, arts, and crafts.
Reggae Sumfest 2009 is organized by IRAWMA-award-winning Summerfest Productions, who are promising this year’s event will be another “one to remember.” The event kicks off with a reggae party on the beach on July 19, followed by 3 additional days of live reggae music. Reggae Sumfest has also amassed some of the best 2009 dancehall acts for a special Dancehall Night on Thursday, July 23.
Reggae Sumfest 2009 dates
Summerfest Productions has scheduled Reggae Sumfest 2009 for 4 evenings of reggae spanning the 4th week of July in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Sumfest 09 is the 17th staging of “the greatest reggae show on earth,” with performance dates including:
- Sunday July 19, 2009 – Reggae Beach Party
- Thursday July 23, 2009 – Dancehall Night
- Friday July 24, 2009 – Sumfest International Night
- Saturday July 25, 2009 – Sumfest International Night 2
Reggae Sumfest 2009 lineup
The Reggae Sumfest organizers have confirmed some of the best 2009 reggae singers for their lineup, including Tarrus Riley, Etana, Coco Tea, and Morgan Heritage. The 2009 Sumfest organizers have expanded into dancehall music performers in recent years, and this year’s festival boasts some of the best 2009 dancehall acts, including Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Busy Signal, and Elephant Man. This powerhouse combination of roots reggae, lovers rock, and dancehall is “truly shaping up to be an entertainment explosion,” according to the organizers.
Reggae Sumfest Beach Party
Reggae Sumfest kicks off on Sunday July 19 with the Beach Party, where gates will open at 2pm on Cornwall Beach. The Beach Party will be Emcee’d by Allen Ranks. Sumfest Beach Party reggae acts include:
- Errol Lee & the Bare Essentials
- Cameal Davis
- Khalil
- Timeka Marshall
- ZJ Ice
- DJ Mix Master Marvin
- Crazy Neil
- Danger Zone sound system
- Super Strong sound system
Reggae Sumfest Jagra Dancehall Night
The Jagra Dancehall Night on Thursday July 23rd is the most hotly-anticipated night of the Sumfest event. GT Taylor from IRIE FM and Richie B from Hot 102 will MC the evening’s performances from established dancehall legends, such as Beenie Man and Mavado, as well as new acts.
Beenie Man, the King of the Dancehall, AKA The Doctor has returned from Reggae Sumfest 2008, when he closed out the previous Dancehall Night with an incredible performance in his usual exhuberant style. Bounty Killer will be joining Beenie Man along with Mavado. The Gully Gadd’s eerie dancehall vocals will float off his latest release, Mr Brooks… A Better Tomorrow, and onto the Sumfest stage where he will be joined by Alliance dancehall artiste Busy Signal. Expect Busy Signal to perform his international dancehall hits Pon Di Edge, Stamma, Trading Places, and Tic Toc. Charley Black will join the lineup with his hilariously horny dancehall lyricism.
- Beenie Man
- Bounty Killer
- Vybz Kartel & the Portmore Empire
- Mavado
- Elephant Man
- Busy Signal
- Assassin
- Spice
- Kip Rich
- Flippa Mafia
- Macka Diamond
- Lady Saw
- D’Angel
- Demarco
- I-Octane
- Voice Mail
- Stacious
- Bugle
- Spryng I
- Nature
- Prodigal Son
- Charly Black
- Poor & Boasy
Reggae Sumfest International Night
Following an evening of dancehall madness, conscious reggae vibes take the stage on Friday as reggae supergroup Morgan Heritage will recollect after a year of solo projects such as Mojo Morgan’s Got Mojo release. Still riding high on his release of The Universal Cure (featuring Junior Reid, Flo-Rida, and Mavado), Jah Cure is a welcome addition to any Jamaican reggae performance. Veteran reggae singer Coco Tea rounds out a rich reggae lineup sure to move the hearts and feet of any reggae music fan.
I Bust The Windows Out your Car R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan has also recently joined the Friday lineup. Summerfest Productions Executive Director Johnny Gourzong has stated that he is “really pleased that we’ve been able to confirm Jazmine for the show. We have been poring over a list of possible international acts, and she was one of those artistes that really jumped out at us. We are gearing up to present an exciting show, a real entertainment explosion starting from the Beach Party on Sunday, and ending with International Night II on Saturday.” Jazmine Sullivan’s second single was another chart topper that struck gold: Need You Bad and Lions, Tigers and Bears.
Reggae Sumfest International Night lineup on Friday July 24 focus on conscious reggae music, with MCs Elise Kelly and Ron Muschette from Irie FM and featured acts including:
- Morgan Heritage
- Jah Cure
- Coco Tea
- Queen Ifrica
- Ne-Yo
- Dub Tonic Kru
- Keri Hilson
- Hezron
- Jazmine Sullivan
- Anthony Able
- Stream
- Super Strong sound system
Reggae Sumfest International Night 2
Tarrus Riley and Etana, today’s leading reggae singers, will close out the 2009 Reggae Sumfest with performances on the fourth evening of live performances. They will be joined by recently-announced international R&B star Toni Braxton.
Saturday July 25’s 2009 Sumfest International Night 2 lineup is a straight list of blockbusters, hosted by MCs Francois St. Juste from Fame and Paula-Ann Porter from RJR 94 FM:
- Toni Braxton
- Nas
- Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley
- Nas
- Inner Circle
- Tarrus Riley
- Etana
- Da’ville
- Rhaatid
- Lutan Fyah
- Mackie Conscious
- Sophia Squire
- Super Strong sound system
Gates open at 7pm for the Jagra Dancehall Night and the 2 International Nights. Show times for all shows are 8:30 p.m. nightly.
Reggae Sumfest tickets
You can buy Reggae Sumfest 2009 tickets at www.reggaesumfest.com. You can also win a free VIP pass to Reggae Sumfest.
Reggae Sumfest ticket prices, in USD:
- Beach Party on Sunday, July 19 – $15
- Dancehall Night on Thursday, July 23 – $29
- International Night 1 on Friday, July 24 – $43
- International Night 2 on Saturday, July25 – $43
Special Reggae Sumfest VIP armband offers are also available (prices are also in USD):
- Red Green Gold – access on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – $106
- VIP Red Green Gold – access to all events – $150
- Weekend – Friday and Saturday – $82
- VIP Weekend – Friday and Saturday – $110
Reggae Sumfest travel and accommodations
The 2009 Reggae Sumfest festival will be held at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, Jamaica. You can access the festival venue from Howard Cook Boulevard. Some parking is available on site for designated ticket holders while additional parking is available in off-venue parking lots located in close proximity to the venue. The festival also provides shuttle services from Kingston and Ocho Rios.
You can make Montego Bay hotel reservations through the Reggae Sumfest website. The Reggae Sumfest Festival team has devoted a section of its website to accommodation and fans can view a list of hotels in Montego Bay, as well as read short reviews and other information on the properties. Organizers say they will continue to add more properties as the deals are finalized, including some in Negril.
Visit the Sumfest website for additional travel and event details.
Reggae Sumfest sponsors
Reggae Sumfest is presented annually by Summfest Productions. Reggae Sumfest 2009 sponsors include Digicel, Air Jamaica, Jamrock Magazine, Ocean Spray, and the Jamaica Tourist Board. Notably missing from the list of sponsors is Red Stripe beer, which pulled sponsorship in 2008 over concerns of violent and homophobic lyrics in dancehall music performed by some of the headliners.
Additional Reggae Sumfest information
Learn more about Reggae Sumfest 2009 at these websites:
Reggae Sumfest is presented annually by Summfest Productions. Summerfest Productions recently won this year’s International Reggae and World Music Award (IRAWMA) for Promoter of the Year, so we expect this to be another great event.
“This is evidence that we’re doing something right with Reggae Sumfest” said Sumfest executive director Johnny Gourzong. He also won the 2008 IRAWMA awards for promoter of the year and Concert of the Year. “I’m excited about this award, and after this year’s Sumfest, we will prove for the 17th consecutive year, that we are THE greatest reggae show on earth.”
Related dub & reggae news:
- Win a free trip to Reggae Sumfest… if you’re Jamaican Reggae Sumfest organizers announced the 2009 Royal Reggae Giveaway sweepstakes today, offering a free chance to win free travel, resort...
- Reggae Sumfest 2009 kicks off in New York City [ June 11, 2009; 12:00 am to 11:00 pm. ] Reggae Sumfest 2009 is getting underway with a press conference...
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when i listen to the ad on and hear that toni & neyo coming to ja i had butterflies in my stomach. I LOVE TONI BRAXTON so much she’s my role model. she’s even performing on my dayoff. i use to tell my daughter that even if im walking with a stick or im sick take me please to see her thank u guy for this TREMENDIOUS line job well done. ONE LOVE
One love Camille! Enjoy the show!
What happen to Tessanne, Tami, Alaine, Jovi and all of Jamaica’s female singers? How come Timeka Marshall can get onto Sumfest over these great Jamaican singers? Is crazy what money can do cause this girl sounds horrible!!!
[...] Reggae Sumfest promoters announced at the NYC launch that singers Toni Braxton and Neyo have been added to the lineup of “the world’s greatest showcase of reggae music.” The 2009 Reggae Sumfest launch party featured performances by Flippa Mafia and Spice and was emcee’d by Irwine Clare. [...]
[...] official: Reggae Sumfest 2009 will be dedicated to the memory of recently-deceased Michael [...]
Is Prodigal Son a gospel artist or a dance hall artist. Beenie u r my favorite artist
what happened to magnum queen of dance hall TIKA wont she be there?
what about my artist Laden
I booked my ticket online for 2 vip weekend, arrived on Friday from London on the friday at about 10pm, I got to the show at about 12.30am went to collect my ticket at the “will call booth” but it was closed,by this stage i didn’t know what the hell was happening,we were being sent to and from various people. We saw a man his first name was David I think he was one of the directors but he was very unhelpful and outright rude he didn,t seem to care that we paid for VIP tickets his view was that we are in and we should just enjoy the show with complete disregards to the fact that if we wanted to be at the non-vip area we would have paid for it in the end he just walked off and leave us there. There was this lovely lady named Carolyn she was looking out to see if she could see anyone who could help us and then she spotted Walter Elmore(not sure of the surname)and told us to talk to him, I explained to Walter and showed him my online receipt he was so helpful and a really lovely kind man, he just took us to the VIP gates and they let us in. Thanks Walter and Carolyn for making Int night 1 enjoyable for us.Int night 2 we came at 9pm to collect our tickets and when I thought nothing else could go wrong I was called in the “will call booth” and a nice man explained to me that some fraud had taken place and that there was no VIP tickets but he could give me 1 red green and gold armband and 1 non-VIP ticket at this stage I was in complete shock to think that a show as big as Sumfest could not sort out a few tickets, we did go to the non-vip area and althought We enjoyed the show please sort out this ticket mess. maybe its best to buy your tickets from agents in Jamaica but not on-line. I will be applying for a partial refund….Carolyn you went that extra mile to help me thanks again and Walter Elmore thanks for believing us and letting us in the VIP area, David it doesn’t cost anything to be nice and maybe you could do with a course on good customer services.
Hey Debbie, I’m glad the experience worked out as much as you were still able to see the show! Hopefully the organizers will see your comment here and improve things for next year.
[...] website and online community By dubman ⋅ September 26, 2009 Can’t get enough of Reggae Sumfest 2009? Good news – “the greatest reggae show on Earth” is relaunching in virtual space [...]
some a de artist are big time roobbers coz they dont give pple their monoys worth
[...] gay lifestyle because it’s not wholesome to me,” he stated after performing at the 2007 Reggae Sumfest Dancehall [...]